Seated outside his vanity van with a crowd of fans scrambling to get a glimpse of him, Salman Khan is a composed man. He isn’t perturbed by the frenzy around. But that isn’t always the case, he admits, as he settles down for a long chat with us. “It depends from day to day — on my energy level, my mood, stuff going on in my life — there are a million things. Sometimes I am very irritable and I tell myself to let it go and be cool. Sometimes, when I am really happy and don’t want to be disturbed, I lose it if crowds get overwhelming.”
While shooting Bajrangi Bhaijaan in Mandawa, Salman stormed out of his car when bikers blocked his way. He explains, “Yes, but that was for their safety. I’d have whacked one of them if I had to. They are riding bikes at a crazy speed on cobbled roads and if someone falls and comes under my wheels, you will blame me.”
As we shift focus to our interview, Salman admits that he can’t wait to get home to have some sheer kurma and biryani. But that’ll have to wait. The actor has promised us a meeting and he isn’t going anywhere until that’s done. We start by asking the actor about the hullabaloo over him being named as the goodwill ambassador of the Indian contingent for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. There were many who weren’t happy with the selection.
“Like who?” he asks to our surprise. “Milkha Singh,” we remind him. “I have never felt that I was attacked by anyone. Milkhapaji is a very sweet man and I don’t think he is capable of saying that. His wife also gave a very nice statement. I think somebody must have influenced him or something. He is a great guy.”
Milkha Singh wasn’t the only one of course. There was a barrage of stinging comments stating that there were others who deserved the title a lot more than the actor with court cases against him. “I know that some people said that and I don’t mind it at all. I am innocent until proved guilty and everybody knows that. I’ll be happy to give up my post if other people with court cases against them are willing to do so. And I am referring to corrupt politicians here. India is such a beautiful country, will they be able to do that? I don’t think so.”
Will he be travelling to Rio to fulfil his duties as the ambassador? “I am a goodwill ambassador and my job is to tell people about the event, give it television coverage etc.” So in a way, his job is done, we say and Salman nods in agreement. “My job was to convey.” He also wants to help talent from across the country achieve their dreams. “They come from villages with no basic access to food, infrastructure, technique or equipment. Despite that, they are able to bring back medals for our country because of their willpower. I want to help them and take this to the next level.”
Speaking about his films, the actor is looking forward to his next big Eid release, Sultan. Given his box office records in the recent past, this one also looks like one that’s going to make a big splash and shatter previous records, we tell him. But Salman finds these speculations rather silly. “It’s not possible to cross Rs 300- Rs 400 crores every time. Halwa hai kya? Even crossing Rs 100 crores is a big thing. Once you do it, people assume you’d do it every time — especially these trade pundits. Of course it’s great if it happens. The bigger the hit, the better it is for us.”
But do box office games still excite him? “Of course. We work so hard on the film, so obviously there is the excitement. But now we are not at that stage where we were doing 15 films at a time, work as labourers and leave. There was a time when we would jump from one film set to the other and fall asleep at our own movie premiers! Back then, we didn’t have a choice. Today, we do. We get around 15 scripts, from which we take up one or two. We put in our best and wait for the prefect release for an opening success and adulation.”
Sultan in particular needed the actor to put on oodles of weight, to resemble a wrestler. From what we heard, physiotherapists warned him against shooting on various dates due to the strain on his joints. Salman however, overrode the instructions. Dismissing the expert advice he says, “They were just trying to be idiots, trying to make me look weak. If I have signed on a wrestling film, it will involve weight raining, learning mixed martial arts, running etc.”
All this weight gain is temporary of course. For his next film with Kabir Khan, he has to lose all the extra pounds. “Losing weight is difficult. It will be 10 times more difficult to get rid of these 8-10 kgs,” he says pointing at his visible belly. Coming to reality shows, when does he start The Farm, also hosted by rumoured girlfriend Iulia Vantur? He says, “I want to do that, the show is with Endemol. This year it’s only Bigg Boss.”
