MUMBAI — How rapid can a rapid-fire be? Ten minutes is the best Salman Khan’s PR team for “Bodyguard” can spare India-West on the telephone for an interview. But 600 seconds with the Khan are better than nothing at all, whose asking price is rumored to be pegged at a mind-boggling two billion-plus per film.
On the other hand, how many stars after Dharmendra (Salman’s biggest icon) have touched their highest peak, with more to come, when in their mid-‘40s? Salman Khan, considered a distant No. 3 in the current Khan hierarchy for years (some even placed him after Akshay Kumar), after he managed only two (super-) hits “No Entry” and “Partner” in the five year-phase from 2005 to 2009, is suddenly considered to have a whopping lead over Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.
He is the man who has bridged the mass-class divide, brought back the larger-than-life truly-brawny (as opposed to the cosmetic six-packer) hero who is macho, has a core of steel but is ultra-gentle with women, respects them, and refuses to kiss heroines or do bedroom sequences with them.
This writer goes momentarily into a 2005 flashback, his first (group) interview with the man, when Khan was neck deep in legal trouble and other controversies. He is smoking a cigarette. A scribe aims to click his picture. Khan covers his cigarette and says, “Not with me smoking. I cannot set a bad example just because I cannot get rid of my bad habit.” Said veteran legend Sadhana to this writer, “I am a fan of all the three Khans, but Salman is my favorite for being larger-than-life like the heroes of my times, who were stars that looked like heroes!” Recently, Rani Mukerji stated that “Salman is a rock-star. When he arrives, eyes turn automatically towards him. He has ‘star’ written all around
him. Other stars analyze trends and adapt to them. Salman decides them and sets them!”
Quite seriously, he is Mumbai’s all-India answer to Rajnikanth, and if Khan plays his cards well, he might well reach that level of giga-stardom from the mega-star he is already. And let’s not forget that both have two other common points: the Maharashtrian bloodline as well as the values inculcated by great parents that keep these actors down-to-earth.
The Eternal Messiah
In the last many years, Salman has become the messiah for close friends and family members, using his clout to set them up in life as producers or directors. And filmdom’s most eligible bachelor has always had a healthy disrespect for arty, niche cinema. After the late Shammi Kapoor (another of Khan’s own icons) and Rishi Kapoor, he is the actor opposite whom the maximum number of new heroines has made their debuts (see box). And Salman has been a protégé even to filmmakers and directors, obliging friends (like promoting their films on Twitter, the way he did with Ajay Devgn’s “Singham”) who are also ever ready to do anything for this man.
His fans include David Dhawan, who has done eight films with Khan, even canceling a day’s shoot of “Rascals” in Bangkok when Khan requested that filmmaker’s lead artists Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Kangna Ranaut make hilarious cameos in “Ready,” which was being shot in the same city.
Salman’s sense of music is as mass-oriented as his films and he inspires music makers to be at their best. Raamlaxman (“Maine Pyar Kiya,” “Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!”), Ismail Darbar (“Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”) and Adnan Sami (“Lucky – No Time For Love”) have never scored as well minus Khan. And Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid have been his own protégés, excelling in several films with him.
Of late, Khan has also taken to working increasingly with South directors who are being introduced to Hindi films, like Prabhudevaa (“Wanted”) and Siddique (“Bodyguard”), but then he has always been a supporter of new directors, featuring in the first films of everyone from brother Sohail Khan (“Auzaar”/1997) and brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri (“Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa”) and Karan Johar (“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”) to names as varied again as Prem Soni (“Main Aur Mrs. Khanna”), Revathy (“Phir Milenge”), Sanjay Leela Bhansali (“Khamoshi – The Musical”), Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru (“Lucky – No Time For Love”) and of course Abhinay Singh Kashyap (“Dabangg”).
Salman is also considered not just a lucky mascot but as a good-natured soul who will help out a colleague when needed. Raveena Tandon cast her first hero in a cameo in his first production, “Stumped.” Revathy, too, made him the protagonist of her first Hindi film, “Phir Milenge,” after he was her first Hindi hero. Salman Khan obliged filmmakers with key cameos in movies as assorted as David Dhawan’s “Deewana Mastana,” Raj Kanwar’s “Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke,” Saawan Kumar’s “Saawan – The Love Season,” Rajkumar Santoshi’s “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani,” Farah Khan’s “Tees Maar Khan,” and the Barjatyas’ “Isi Life Mein” when they wanted him to help out for various reasons. Recently, he even insisted on doing a guest appearance in a promo song for Hema Malini’s “Tell Me O Kkhuda” with Esha Deol, who is being re-launched.
Khan is also the biggest hit on television after “KBC’s” Amitabh Bachchan, come “10 Ka Dum” or “Bigg Boss” and has stated on record, “Like my films, I choose my television shows based on the connect they have with my audience and with those I interact with on the show, be it celebrities or the common man. And I enjoy doing them, like the forthcoming ‘Bigg Boss’ that I will co-host with my good friend, Sanjay Dutt.”
Conscious every moment while working about “the viewer who watches my films with his hard-earned money,” Salman has learnt that apart from all other factors like hit music and star-power, the promo of a film today is simply the most vital. “Dabangg” and “Bodyguard” had promos that saw audiences thirsting for their releases. “Bodyguard,” despite a budget of Rs. 75 crore, was said to be a hit even before its release with the trade and viewers. Expected to be the biggest money-spinner of the year, with no competition to follow, it is set to complete Salman’s Eid hat-trick of hits after “Wanted” (2009) and “Dabangg” (2010). India-West spoke to him before the release of the film.
The Rocket-Rapid Interview:
Q: What does Salman Khan promise his fans with “Bodyguard”?
A: Ha! “Bodyguard” is a larger-than-life film with everything from emotions and comedy to music. It’s also a great and sweet love story. And you will go mad with the action — it’s exceptional!
Q: You have been big-time into South remakes recently. Why?
A: That, sir, has a simple answer — a great script! (Chuckles) But we have to make the necessary changes for the audience who will see my film, the Hindi film audience.
Q: Were you always confident about “Wanted,” “Dabangg” and “Ready”?
A: Like I said, sir, the script is everything. If there is a good love story, the right emotions, the film is well-shot and there is great action and nice songs, it has to do well. And then we have the humor that must always originate from the situations and characters.
Q: You have brought back the larger-than-life heroes.
A: They are always what I like to see and to which I relate. A hero has to be about heroism, a goal in life and emotions. He should be fighting for a cause. “Wanted” brought back the era of the larger-than-life hero that was first ushered in by my father’s scripts like “Zanjeer.” Baad mein unnke kaam ki bahut tod-phod hui (after that, so many tried to imitate the style and damaged it!). After that, other kinds of heroes came, like the college boys. Every eight to ten years they kept changing. There was a kind of hero even before “Zanjeer.”
Q: You have also broken the single-screen-multiplex barrier.
A: (Firmly) There is no barrier. One kind of theater is frequented by the people who earn less, while the other is patronized by those who earn more, but all human beings have the same emotions. All I want to say is, when they want to see movies in the first three days and there are no tickets available, they should not spend on buying tickets in black at single-screens but go watch the film instead in better theaters for the same money!
Q: This is your third film with Kareena Kapoor, and your third film in almost a row with a new director.
A: I have a good equation with Kareena Kapoor, whose bodyguard I play — this is a very different kind of love story. Siddique is more of a writer, though he is a brilliant director. I have the best team in the film.
Q: What made you bring back Himesh Reshammiya?
A: Oh, I needed three specific songs. And I knew that Himesh had them.
Q: What do you have to say about your mega-star status after “Dabangg” and “Ready”?
A: I don’t believe in all these things. It’s all about what happens on Friday when your new film releases. If it’s a hit, you are a bigger star than you were. Otherwise, you have to do better next time!
Q: I loved your film “Chillar Party.” But you came in to back the film after it was ready. What will you produce next?
A: It was a sweet little film that all my family loved. I have to be very careful about any film I take up next as producer.
Q: Finally, I had sent a copy of my book “The History of Indian Film Music” through your father Salim Khan-saab to you at your farm. Your father said that you read books there. Did you get to read it?
A: You wrote that book???? It was lovely-y-y!!
On the other hand, how many stars after Dharmendra (Salman’s biggest icon) have touched their highest peak, with more to come, when in their mid-‘40s? Salman Khan, considered a distant No. 3 in the current Khan hierarchy for years (some even placed him after Akshay Kumar), after he managed only two (super-) hits “No Entry” and “Partner” in the five year-phase from 2005 to 2009, is suddenly considered to have a whopping lead over Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan.
He is the man who has bridged the mass-class divide, brought back the larger-than-life truly-brawny (as opposed to the cosmetic six-packer) hero who is macho, has a core of steel but is ultra-gentle with women, respects them, and refuses to kiss heroines or do bedroom sequences with them.This writer goes momentarily into a 2005 flashback, his first (group) interview with the man, when Khan was neck deep in legal trouble and other controversies. He is smoking a cigarette. A scribe aims to click his picture. Khan covers his cigarette and says, “Not with me smoking. I cannot set a bad example just because I cannot get rid of my bad habit.” Said veteran legend Sadhana to this writer, “I am a fan of all the three Khans, but Salman is my favorite for being larger-than-life like the heroes of my times, who were stars that looked like heroes!” Recently, Rani Mukerji stated that “Salman is a rock-star. When he arrives, eyes turn automatically towards him. He has ‘star’ written all around
him. Other stars analyze trends and adapt to them. Salman decides them and sets them!” Quite seriously, he is Mumbai’s all-India answer to Rajnikanth, and if Khan plays his cards well, he might well reach that level of giga-stardom from the mega-star he is already. And let’s not forget that both have two other common points: the Maharashtrian bloodline as well as the values inculcated by great parents that keep these actors down-to-earth.
The Eternal Messiah
In the last many years, Salman has become the messiah for close friends and family members, using his clout to set them up in life as producers or directors. And filmdom’s most eligible bachelor has always had a healthy disrespect for arty, niche cinema. After the late Shammi Kapoor (another of Khan’s own icons) and Rishi Kapoor, he is the actor opposite whom the maximum number of new heroines has made their debuts (see box). And Salman has been a protégé even to filmmakers and directors, obliging friends (like promoting their films on Twitter, the way he did with Ajay Devgn’s “Singham”) who are also ever ready to do anything for this man.
His fans include David Dhawan, who has done eight films with Khan, even canceling a day’s shoot of “Rascals” in Bangkok when Khan requested that filmmaker’s lead artists Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Kangna Ranaut make hilarious cameos in “Ready,” which was being shot in the same city.
Salman’s sense of music is as mass-oriented as his films and he inspires music makers to be at their best. Raamlaxman (“Maine Pyar Kiya,” “Hum Aapke Hain Koun…!”), Ismail Darbar (“Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”) and Adnan Sami (“Lucky – No Time For Love”) have never scored as well minus Khan. And Himesh Reshammiya and Sajid-Wajid have been his own protégés, excelling in several films with him.
Of late, Khan has also taken to working increasingly with South directors who are being introduced to Hindi films, like Prabhudevaa (“Wanted”) and Siddique (“Bodyguard”), but then he has always been a supporter of new directors, featuring in the first films of everyone from brother Sohail Khan (“Auzaar”/1997) and brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri (“Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa”) and Karan Johar (“Kuch Kuch Hota Hai”) to names as varied again as Prem Soni (“Main Aur Mrs. Khanna”), Revathy (“Phir Milenge”), Sanjay Leela Bhansali (“Khamoshi – The Musical”), Radhika Rao & Vinay Sapru (“Lucky – No Time For Love”) and of course Abhinay Singh Kashyap (“Dabangg”).
Salman is also considered not just a lucky mascot but as a good-natured soul who will help out a colleague when needed. Raveena Tandon cast her first hero in a cameo in his first production, “Stumped.” Revathy, too, made him the protagonist of her first Hindi film, “Phir Milenge,” after he was her first Hindi hero. Salman Khan obliged filmmakers with key cameos in movies as assorted as David Dhawan’s “Deewana Mastana,” Raj Kanwar’s “Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke,” Saawan Kumar’s “Saawan – The Love Season,” Rajkumar Santoshi’s “Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani,” Farah Khan’s “Tees Maar Khan,” and the Barjatyas’ “Isi Life Mein” when they wanted him to help out for various reasons. Recently, he even insisted on doing a guest appearance in a promo song for Hema Malini’s “Tell Me O Kkhuda” with Esha Deol, who is being re-launched.
Khan is also the biggest hit on television after “KBC’s” Amitabh Bachchan, come “10 Ka Dum” or “Bigg Boss” and has stated on record, “Like my films, I choose my television shows based on the connect they have with my audience and with those I interact with on the show, be it celebrities or the common man. And I enjoy doing them, like the forthcoming ‘Bigg Boss’ that I will co-host with my good friend, Sanjay Dutt.”
Conscious every moment while working about “the viewer who watches my films with his hard-earned money,” Salman has learnt that apart from all other factors like hit music and star-power, the promo of a film today is simply the most vital. “Dabangg” and “Bodyguard” had promos that saw audiences thirsting for their releases. “Bodyguard,” despite a budget of Rs. 75 crore, was said to be a hit even before its release with the trade and viewers. Expected to be the biggest money-spinner of the year, with no competition to follow, it is set to complete Salman’s Eid hat-trick of hits after “Wanted” (2009) and “Dabangg” (2010). India-West spoke to him before the release of the film.
The Rocket-Rapid Interview:
Q: What does Salman Khan promise his fans with “Bodyguard”?
A: Ha! “Bodyguard” is a larger-than-life film with everything from emotions and comedy to music. It’s also a great and sweet love story. And you will go mad with the action — it’s exceptional!
Q: You have been big-time into South remakes recently. Why?
A: That, sir, has a simple answer — a great script! (Chuckles) But we have to make the necessary changes for the audience who will see my film, the Hindi film audience.
Q: Were you always confident about “Wanted,” “Dabangg” and “Ready”?
A: Like I said, sir, the script is everything. If there is a good love story, the right emotions, the film is well-shot and there is great action and nice songs, it has to do well. And then we have the humor that must always originate from the situations and characters.
Q: You have brought back the larger-than-life heroes.
A: They are always what I like to see and to which I relate. A hero has to be about heroism, a goal in life and emotions. He should be fighting for a cause. “Wanted” brought back the era of the larger-than-life hero that was first ushered in by my father’s scripts like “Zanjeer.” Baad mein unnke kaam ki bahut tod-phod hui (after that, so many tried to imitate the style and damaged it!). After that, other kinds of heroes came, like the college boys. Every eight to ten years they kept changing. There was a kind of hero even before “Zanjeer.”
Q: You have also broken the single-screen-multiplex barrier.
A: (Firmly) There is no barrier. One kind of theater is frequented by the people who earn less, while the other is patronized by those who earn more, but all human beings have the same emotions. All I want to say is, when they want to see movies in the first three days and there are no tickets available, they should not spend on buying tickets in black at single-screens but go watch the film instead in better theaters for the same money!
Q: This is your third film with Kareena Kapoor, and your third film in almost a row with a new director.
A: I have a good equation with Kareena Kapoor, whose bodyguard I play — this is a very different kind of love story. Siddique is more of a writer, though he is a brilliant director. I have the best team in the film.
Q: What made you bring back Himesh Reshammiya?
A: Oh, I needed three specific songs. And I knew that Himesh had them.
Q: What do you have to say about your mega-star status after “Dabangg” and “Ready”?
A: I don’t believe in all these things. It’s all about what happens on Friday when your new film releases. If it’s a hit, you are a bigger star than you were. Otherwise, you have to do better next time!
Q: I loved your film “Chillar Party.” But you came in to back the film after it was ready. What will you produce next?
A: It was a sweet little film that all my family loved. I have to be very careful about any film I take up next as producer.
Q: Finally, I had sent a copy of my book “The History of Indian Film Music” through your father Salim Khan-saab to you at your farm. Your father said that you read books there. Did you get to read it?
A: You wrote that book???? It was lovely-y-y!!
No comments:
Post a Comment