“Ek baar jo maine commitment kar di toh mai apne aap ki bhi nhi sunta,” Salman Khan said memorably as Radhe in Wanted, back in 2009. Like dialogues can at times, this one stuck. It became the actor’s go-to line and his calling card, so much so that it entered our everyday lexicon and became synonymous with Bhai, as Salman is fondly called by his fans. There was something poetic here too because just like his Robinhood-esque character, he is a man who follows his instincts — in reel life and real. Unlike his characters, however, it often lands him in trouble, by his own admission.
As Salman sat down for a virtual interaction with media in these pandemic times to discuss his upcoming film, Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai and more, we asked him how well have his instincts served him. “I have always followed my instincts and they have always got me in trouble,” the actor said, adding that people often try to take advantage of it and try to turn it into something else. But later, they give up because they realise the actor was right all along.
“I have always got out of the trouble because my instincts were correct. Career wise, real life, personal relationships are always instincts. Now, you can go right with that or you can go wrong with that,” said the actor.
On the work front, Salman has Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai up for release. The film, which was earlier scheduled for a theatrical release, is now heading to a hybrid release because of the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. While Salman is the hero of the film, Radhe will see Randeep Hooda and Bigg Boss fame Gautam Gulati playing the antagonist. Salman was all praise for their performance.
“We have three villains Sang Hae from Bhutan, Gautam Gulati who was in Bigg Boss and then there is Randeep Hooda. They are fantastic in the film and they look something else only. They have actually made Radhe look much stronger and bigger. The opposition, they were so lethal and they are actually dangerous and you can tell how hard these guys have worked,” the actor said.
Salman also spoke about the time when he was a fan, and wanted to emulate the hero the moment he walked out of a theatre, which makes him similar to every other person in the audience. However, he accepts his characters are not cut out to be a role models. “Dabangg (Chulbul Pandey) is a character, I can’t take that character back home. Radhe is a character, I can’t take back that character. I can’t walk around in front of my parents as Chulbul Pandey. My dad would hit me, my mom would slap me and my brothers and sisters would be embarrassed of me. So, I am at home as a son and as a brother. I would rather be somebody like Bajrangi Bhaijaan.” The 2015 Kabir Khan directorial where Salman played a do-gooder, who goes beyond his ken to bring a lost Pakistani girl home, is more than just a film, many would call it an image makeover for the actor.
Following his chain of thoughts, he said he “doesn’t take the flirting and the love story back home with the heroines, nor do I take all the action, beating up 50-60 people, chopper sequences. I don’t have that in me. That’s a self obsessed or egoistic person. I know what my capacity is, I know how much I can do and I know how much the stunt double can do. I don’t take that back home but I take a bit of the goodness back.”
The voices claiming that he is repeating himself have been shrill this time, with many saying Radhe is an extension of Wanted. Salman is having none of it — he says his film is brand new but he is the same Salman Khan. “Radhe is a new film so we will not repeat what we have already done in earlier films. Otherwise, it will be that you have repeated yourself again. So, it is new and I need you to see the film and then you tell me what is new apart from me. I am the same old Salman- that you have been seeing since Maine Pyaar Kiya.”
Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai, which marks Salman’s third collaboration with Prabhudeva after Wanted and Dabangg 3, will release on May 13.
