Youth not petty,wont tolerate all this : Salman Khan

Salman stepped into Delhi for the promos of PRDP and - predictably - ran into a flurry of questions and soundbyte quests on SRK, religion and intolerance. The bemused star says he doesn't understand why so much space is given to such issues, and that the young, driven Indian has no interest in divisiveness

What do you feel about all those questions thrown your way on what SRK said, being asked for soundbytes on religious intolerance?
Agar Shah Rukh Khan ne yeh nahi kaha hota, kisi aur ne yeh kaha hota, toh yeh daalte hi nahi apne channels par . Aise bahut saare log hain with an opinion. Toh phir unka kyun nahi lete naam, unko TVpar kyun nahi daalte? Kyunki woh bikte nahi hain. Ab yeh bikte hain, toh unko daal diya. Kyunki inhone kaha hai toh isske upar kinhi chaar logon ke reaction lekar aao taaki inka dhanda chale.Yeh sab dhanda chalane waale hain. Yeh koi aisa nahi hai ke, issko suljhaao. Iss desh ko iss andhakaar se nikalo, issko kahin ek alag level par lekar chale jao. Nahi hai yeh.




What do I say on religious intolerance?Ek toh meri maaMaharashtrian, mere father Mussalman, Helen aunty Catholic, my sister-in-law, one CatholicMalyali, one Punjabi. My brother-in-laws, one a Punjabi, the other one from Himachal. Toh hamare yahaan toh yeh concept hai hi nahi, toh hum kya bolein? Humko toh kabhi theatreke andar yeh kabhi dikhai nahi diya. Kabhi nahi dikhai diya ki bhai, sirf Mussalman jaa ke picture dekh rahe hain. We are respected and we are loved for what we do on screen. Ek sau ikkees karod ki population ke andar Mussalman honge 14-15%. Baaki kaun hain? Banaya kisne humko? Banaya toh alag-alag beliefs ke logon ne na humko, sabne milke banaya na. Jab unke dimaag mein yeh nahi baat hai, toh phir inko - questioners ko - kyun nahi samajh mein aata.This is the safest place for
anyone to be of any belief. I don't believe that one Hindu does not have a best Mussalman friend or vice versa, or, a relative, in today's day and age. So, then, why? And even these people, who come and raise those topics, I am sure they go back and say , 'kya hai yaar yeh? Kya baatein kar rahe hain? What is this?' I am sure they also must be not believing in that. But karna padta hai. I've heard this myself.

Main toh iss belief se aata hoon ki main toh pata hi nahi kaun hoon yaar . Ki meri toh yeh baatein samajh mein aati hi nahin kyunki main toh aadha Hindu aadha Mussalman hoon. Aur phir my whole education is Catholic, toh aaj jab painting banata hoon toh phat phat ekdumJesus saamne aa jate hain. Jesus ki painting banata hoon main. So I don't understand these things. Perhaps there might be some people who think like that, but I really don't think it's a majority . For my living in this country and from living like eight generations... people who had to leave and go, they left. They didn't want to stay here... Those who live here, this is their country , this is everyone's, and they love it.

The earlier generations of the family - do they talk about these issues?
My father was telling me, during the Partition, when everyone was going, everyone came to the Muslim families in Indore - 'mat jaao, don't go'.They said kuch nahi hone ka, just stay here only. How lovely was that? Because they were all family there. Uthna, baithna, ghar mein khana peena.And the same thing is still here. Humne toh kabhi yeh socha hi nahi, life mein nahi socha. And I don't think the younger generation thinks like this at all.So then why , for TV, all these things yaar? You stop saying these things, you stop writing about these things, no one will bother. Or you get the feedback.You get the right youth ka feedback ki this is wrong.I have a lot of belief in this country , a lot of belief in the future of this country . I've got so much belief in the youth. They are so clear, so driven, they are not petty at all. They are so compassionate, they're so loving. They will not tolerate all this. And that will be the right kind of intolerance.

READ: Salman Khan: Feel unfortunate to be out of 'Bajirao Mastani'

But aren't you very careful in responding to the politically-loaded queries that come your way?
Yahaan par public mein ek sawaal pooch raha hai koi, aapne start kiya, ab aapke dimaag mein aaya, arre yaar koi galat word nahi nikal jaaye mooh se, ek line dekh ke ussko yeh uchhalenge. You're careful, and once you're careful, you're not interested in saying anything. The same thing happened during 'Jai Ho'. 'Aam Admi Party supporting, this supporting, that supporting.' What supporting? Patang udaane chale gaye Modi saab ke liye, one other person is saying that AAP ka gana hai 'Jai Ho'. Hum picture promote kar rahe hain yaar, itni khoobsurat picture hai, it is teaching you to help three people and take it forward, aur aap ussko ek, uss waqt kyunki election ka mahaul hai, aap ussko woh turn de rahe ho. Woh film suffer kar jaati hai usski wajah se. And it did suffer.

You don't intend playing grey characters, if all your movies are about sending a message?
Kiya na play. Dabangg mein tha.

That was a grey character?
Tareeka hota hai, tareeka hota hai woh play karne ka.

From dating to breaking up, from Eid to Ganpati, from legal issues to emotional ones - everything about Salman is broadcast and analysed. Doesn't your life feel like a surreal Bigg Boss set sometimes?
(Laughs) Khushi, sukh, tension, dukh, ek parallel track par chalta hai. But that is what life is. Ab itna diya hai uparwale ne, udd na jaye, dimaag kharab na ho jaye, toh ek pair pe rassi baandh di hai, ki zyada udo mat bhai, kheech lete hain neeche thoda sa. I believe it's that.



Do you need to restrain yourself - like if you're feeling a little too big here right now, blockbuster after blockbuster, a crazy fan following?
Nahi mera kabhi se woh feel hi nahi tha life ke andar. Mere khud ki life ki journey ka, all the credit goes to destiny, to luck.Yeh toh hai hi nahi, ki Salman Khan mein itna hunar hai kiHindustan mein kisi ke paas nahi hai. Toh woh toh hai hi nahi.I understand that clearly . Jab mujhe woh baat pata hai. Itne hard working hain, woh toh hoon nahi. Itne good looking hain, aise laakhon karodon log hain, woh kyun nahi bane? Body le lo. Har gali ke andar aaj ek ladka hai, ek kya, hazaar ladke hain, jinki body mujhse dus guna behtar hai. Toh yeh sab ka shrey toh le hi nahi sakta na main. So I know ki ek average aadmi hai, jisko upar wale ne iss mukaam par, pata nahi kyun, kis liye, iss mukaam par dala hai... Ab jab daal hi diya hai - mujhe nahi lagta ki ek actor ban kar Salman ka kaam poora ho jeyega aur yeh nikal lenge upar. Iska koi aur routehai, acting se kahin aur jaa raha hai yeh. I don't know where par disha sahi hai, aur kuch achha hi kar ke jayega Salman Khan.

Is the 'family value' cinema, of the sort that Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is, essentially cinema which is about forgetting everything and escaping into a fantasy land, or is it about absorbing and taking back fundamentals with you? Is commercial cinema, according to you, meant to educate - you talk about people taking back values - or to entertain?
Any film where you walk out of the theatre and say , 'what a movie! Mazaa aa gaya bhai,' that is a commercial film, that is a good film. Aap sab se badi picture ke andar chale gaye aur your reaction is 'bakwaas!' - khatam.

If you've got to give a message, then your theatres have got to be full. If you want to make money , your theatres have to be full.Many directors come in and make a film and then say , 'nahi yaaraudience ko samajh mein nahi aayi'. Kya samajh mein nahi aayi? Abey tum ko samajh mein nahi aayi audience. Flop tumhari hai! 'Yeh picture chal kaise gayi yaar? Itni buri picture thi, yeh chal kaise gayi, yeh hit kaise ho gayi yaar?! Main toh yaar 20 minute mein uth ke nikal gaya iss picture mein se'.Aur picture bohot badi hit hai! Tumko nahi samajh mein aayipicture.Baaki Hindustan ko toh samajh mein aa rahi hai kyunki chal rahi hai. 'Bad film' - no! It's a good film. 'Arre damn good film, lekin chali nahi' - no, bad film! Simple hai.Good picture, hit film. Not hit picture, bad film. Simple equation hai.


Those who say , yeh samajh nahi aaya, woh samajh nahi aaya... I say to them, tum samajh jao, yaar . Aur doosron ka paisa barbad mat karo. Aur time bhi. You're living in India. Aap bana rahe ho picture Cuff Parade se le ke Andheri tak ke liye, woh poora Hindustan thode hai yaar. Hindustan poora North ka belt hai, kahaan kahaan jaata hai Hindustan. Uss ke liye pyar, mohabbat, love, ek family se, rishton se judi hui picture honi bahut zaroori hai.Heart waalipicture honi bahut zaroori hai. Aapka action bhi ho, betuka action na ho, sirf ek aadmi ud ud ke laat maar raha hai - that's not action. Jab tak action emotion ke saath na juda ho, woh sabaction nahi hota, woh sirf fighting hoti hai.

Log kehte hain 'action picture chalti hai'. Action picture nahi chalti. Emotional picture chalti hai aur emotional pictures ka climax hota hai uss type ki filmon mein, action. Woh action picturenahi hoti.

Aur jahan action hai pictures mein, aur picture hit hui hai, uss ke andar love story bahut tagdi hoti hai. Agar uss ke andar love story nahi ho, woh picture nahi chalti. Aap kuch bhi kar lo, koi si bhi film bana lo, love story ke bina picture chalti nahi
.