Salman Khan doesn’t speak much. But when he speaks, he makes others listen. Ahead of his much-awaited release of Sikandar, Salman Khan met the Mumbai press in a heightened security set-up. No camera was allowed during the interview.
NDTV asked Salman Khan about working with younger actresses, handling box office pressures, today’s actors’ unwillingness to work in two-hero films and stardom, and the superstar answered it all.
NDTV: The pressure of box office is not on you at all. But do the makers share the burden of box office with you?
Salman Khan: When the film is a hit, the makers don’t come to us. They are okay with it. But when the film is a flop, the makers come to us and say, “Oh, it’s a loss!”
NDTV: Do you feel it’s the actor’s responsibility to bring the audience in to the theatres?
Salman Khan: When bad films come, including my own; if it doesn’t work, then it’s bad. If it works, then it’s very good. Do you think the onus is on the star to bring the audience in? Yes, because he is the one who is seen on the screen. So, then, the blame will be on him only.
NDTV: Do you want to work with younger actresses like you are paired with Rashmika Mandanna in the film?
Salman Khan: I was thinking of acting with these new actors. They will come. They will become big stars. They will get bigger and better films. But then, the age gap – you guys have ruined it. If I want to work with Ananya [Panday] or Janhvi [Kapoor], I will have to think 10 times. I will think 10 times and then do it.
NDTV: 90s actors like you are still ruling the box office. Still, there’s a strong buzz that Bollywood is in trouble. Do you feel today’s actors lack certain qualities to attain stardom?
Salman Khan: We are going wrong with our budgets. We are going totally wrong with our budgets. Once our budgets are in control, everything is going to be okay. Now, would you be able to make a beautiful love story?
Reporter: Yeah, I mean, it’s difficult.
Salman Khan: Difficult, right? So, now these boys are making love stories. Would you be able to make an action film like the way the South boys are doing? So, the choice of directors, the choice of producers, and the choice of scripts. Now, suddenly, everyone has come out to read and write. So, if you give them emotion… But we need the emotion, we need the action, we need the romance, we need a whole package. Because for two and a half hours, one night…
In the earlier movies, there used to be a comedian’s track. To take away from the seriousness of the angry young man, there was a track. All those things that we need to… And especially at that time, it was still okay. Now, where there is such a long shot, which is an informative dialogue, you get on the phone. So, the attention span has become very little. If you… Okay, what’s happening is… They’re writing for themselves right now. They’re competing with directors. Producers are competing with producers.
That we’ll show them how this movie is made. No, no, you’ve got to make a film for the audience. You’ve got to write it in such a way that you’re sitting in the first bench… And you’re enjoying what you’re writing or what you’re going to show. That they won’t understand. How can you say that they won’t understand? You know, then you start spoon-feeding the audience. The audience has gone way ahead. Way ahead. All the OTT platforms that have come out… All your… Netflix, etc. They have the access to any film, any cinema, anywhere. Anywhere. And movies are, good or bad, are still the most watched things. I mean, more than any entertainment. It could be TV, it could be OTT, it could be films.
Even my father [writer Salim Khan] was saying we are making films for all the wrong reasons. The actor’s date has come, make a film. The heroine is getting married, make a film. The heroine is getting pregnant, make a film quickly. The money has come, the distributor has come. Make a film. The film should be only made because you have the best script ever. And I mean… So, the people who are doing serious films have shifted to action and comedy and all that stuff as well.
Okay, they’re all going by… This is going on right now. But no, but people are ready to see any kind of film that you’re doing. The actors have become very insecure. I mean, do you see any of the younger generation doing two heroes? I have offered a film to… I won’t take names right now. Later, I had told them that when this film hits… I’ll take everyone’s name. I had come to all of you. Individually, in a combination. Everyone played an equal role. Everyone worked with each other. I mean, they didn’t want to do the film. Some say, I don’t understand the genre. Some say this, some say that. But the fact that they didn’t want to work with each other. With our thing, I worked with Shah Rukh [Khan]. Shah Rukh, Aamir [Khan], Sunny [Deol]. Sanju [Dutt], Jackie [Shroff], Rahul Roy, Sanjay Kapoor, Anil Kapoor.
And not one, two, three films. So, because his fans and our fans coming together. That gives you that much of… box office collection. And there you become friends. You’re working with each other, you become friends. You get to know each other. That’s how… Our contact with… Like for example, Sanju, Jackie. Because we’ve all spent 100, 200, 300 days together. Ajay [Devgn]. And God knows how many guest appearances we’ve done for each other. Everyone.
NDTV: What’s the status of Atlee’s film?
Salman Khan: That’s delayed. I think the budget is the issue for that film. He’s written a very big, large budgeted film.
Salman Khan’s immediate next film, Sikandar, releases in theatres on March 30.
