Salman Khan\'s honesty makes him a superhero\, he is a mature human being: Bharat...

Salman Khan’s honesty makes him a superhero, he is a mature human being: Bharat director Ali Abbas Zafar

In a recent interview, Ali Abbas Zafar opens up on the film’s leads Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif, and the influence they have had on his life and art.

bollywood Updated: Apr 24, 2019 12:30 IST
Alia Abbas Zafar’s Bharat traces the story of Salman Khan’s character across 60 years of his life.

Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar has worked with Salman Khan in Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai and their upcoming film Bharat is their third project together. Talking about how Salman has evolved over the years, Ali has said that the Dabangg star is a “deep, mature and beautiful human being”, adding that he Salman’s stardom has only grown in the past 30 years that he has been in the industry. In a recent interview, Ali opened up on Salman, the superhero, the star and revealed how the actor faced the camera during a shirtless scene with his out-of-shape body for Sultan.

Salman will be seen donning five different looks for Ali’s upcoming film Bharat and the recently released trailer of the movie that also stars Katrina Kaif. Salman plays an aging man who fights for his own cause and that of his nation. The movie is an official adaptation of Korean drama An Ode To My Father and is set to hit theatres on June 5, Eid 2019.

When asked what makes Salman a superhero, Ali told Mumbai Mirror in an interview, “His honesty and earnestness. His communication with his audience is very direct. And even when he lives a character, Salman Khan doesn’t disappear 100 per cent. Whether its Tiger, Sultan or Bharat, his magical presence in there in the characters.”

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“He was very evolved in the first film itself. I was the one who learnt from him. SK is a deep, mature and beautiful actor/human being, and when he identifies with an emotion, it just flows. There’s a scene in Sultan when he takes off his shirt and looks at his slightly out-of-shape body in the mirror. He avoided doing it till the last day, then suddenly stripped and faced the camera. It was a one-take shot and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. He’s so spontaneous when he’s in character. A star needs to be an actor, or he’ll fizzle out soon. Salman has been around for 30 years and his stardom has only grown,” the filmmaker added.

Talking about the larger-than-life canvas of his films, Ali said, “Whether it’s Gunday, Tiger Zinda Hai, Sultan or Bharat, you have to connect with the audience in the first 20 minutes by showing something the character does or believes in that makes them root for him. Once that happens, they are with him even when he single-handedly decimates an entire army. If a superhero is selfless, and you have a star like Salman Khan, whom the audience loves, playing him, half the battle is won.”

Talking about Katrina replacing Priyanka Chopra, the director said, “I’m grateful to Katrina for stepping in. I was honest with her and told her I was sending her a script. If she liked it, we’d discuss it further. She’s my closest friend in Mumbai, we come from similar middleclass backgrounds, our values are the same, and we discuss everything. But on the work front, we’re very transparent with each other. If she doesn’t like something I’m doing, she lets me know and vice versa. In an industry where friendships don’t last even for months, ours has continued for over a decade.”

The director also hinted at a third film in the hit Tiger franchise and suggested that he may plan a love story with Salman in the lead.

Watch Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif in Bharat trailer:

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First Published: Apr 24, 2019 12:28 IST