Salman Khan hosted Dus Ka Dum is set to make a comeback after about a decade.
Salman Khan, who has spent over two decades in Bollywood, has become an audience and ratings puller for television. Be it his candid best on Dus Ka Dum or the entertaining taskmaster on Bigg Boss, there’s no other actor, who can pull off what the Bhai can do. But that was not the case always for this megastar. At the launch of Dus Ka Dum, he confessed that he was indeed sceptical about taking the big jump from films to TV. “In 2008, when the show (Dus Ka Dum) came to me, I had a very negative image in public. And I was indeed scared to show my original personality. But then I made my debut and from then I have realised that it is the most powerful medium.”
He further shared, “I was scared and so I asked my father (Salim Khan) whether I should do it because there will be the common man. I was scared of being me and who I am. He told me, ‘who do you want to be then? If people accept you, it’s good, if not, you will need to change yourself.’ That’s when I decided to do this show.”
While he is used to Fridays turning out to be blockbusters during his film releases, Salman shared that he was really nervous when the first episode of the show was to air. “I was accepted on the big screen but then there’s so many factors that makes it look great and likeable. Here I was on a platform with no dialogues and only interacting with common people. I was anxious if they would like my real personality. I was a bundle of nerves when the show launched.”
The Race 3 actor further shared that an incident made him realise that he was finally accepted as himself. “I was shooting for Wanted in Panvel and as usual I was out for a run. That farmhouse has been there from the time Maine Pyar Kiya released but suddenly I had an old lady come up to me and say, ‘Dus Ka Dum ho na?’. And during that eight kilometres of run, the entire town was clicking pictures saying ‘Dus Ka Dum’. I really felt great that day and I also realised that people have forgotten my characters Prem, Raja, Arjun, Samir and now know me by my real name.”
Aa raha hun jald #DUSKADUM wapas lekar sirf @sonyTV par pic.twitter.com/WVqLLOarmL
— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) May 11, 2018
And when a journalist asked him what’s it about him that the common man connects so well with him, the 52-year-old smiled to say, “I have no idea and I don’t want to find out, because if I do find out, I will overdo it, and that will not work for me anymore. The way I am, I just like to be the way I am and keep it at that.”
Produced by Big Synergy, Dus Ka Dum will make a comeback after about a decade. It will air Monday and Tuesday, starting June 4, 8:30 pm on Sony TV.