I have become this greedy person: Salman Khan !
Arti Dani (Photos: Rahul Gajjar) / 1 February 2014
Salman Khan gets philosophical in a chat with City Times on life, movies and of course, Shah Rukh Khan...
SALMAN KHAN LOOKS like a changed man. Not only does he seem fresher and healthier but we also notice a major change in his nature. His healthy look can probably be attributed to the fact that he has reportedly quit smoking and drinking. But what is the secret behind his new composed self, his calmness?
He's not afraid be seen with a controversial politician on a promotional tour of his film Jai Ho. He's not ashamed that his performance at the Saifai Mahotsav, a politically charged event, drew criticism; he later said as an actor it is his job to perform to earn his bread and butter. He is promoting a lot of new talent. Salman also runs the charitable organisation Being Human, but often tells people not to give him money but instead help their maids or other underprivileged kids to get them education or medical treatment. It's obvious that the actor is not answerable to anyone but himself and has strong viewpoints on many issues.
When City Times met with Salman in Dubai recently we hoped he would give us an insight into this new side of his personality. He smiled when we showed him the cover page of the issue featuring him and Daisy Shah and said he gave us brief answers for that particular interview because he was was on a plane at the time and was tired of travelling. He had much more to say this time around and often took the conversation to a deeper level.
There seems to be a certain shift in your personality of late. You have become more vocal about what you think is right or wrong and are not afraid to say it. During Big Boss many people accused you of being partial and unfair and there were many others who supported you. How do you analyse your current self?
It was always there. For people who have always known me, this is me, the one who knows what is right and wrong. I enjoy the moments and also get hassled sometimes. I forgive, I voice my opinions. I thought if something like this is happening on my show, I should say outright what I feel. People have fans and fans have their own thinking so some people will agree and some will not agree. It's like how you have a society, it is difficult to handle a society with so many people. Then you have constituencies and states, one man handling the whole state with so many different kinds of people with different ways of life, walks of life, religion, income groups etc. I wonderded how do they handle this, I could not handle 15 people in the Big Boss house.
On my new self, honestly speaking, I am just trying to get the enthusiasm back which I used to have earlier but started lacking in between, so I am trying to build back the enthusiasm. There used to be a pain in learning that I used to enjoy and with time I started brushing it off because I did not want the pain anymore. But now I want to go back to the pain of learning; I want to enjoy each and every bit of that pain. I want to learn, if someone shows me something interesting, I will not just say Wow! amazing.' I will say, How do you do it? Show it to me. I want to learn.' That thing about learning and growing is something I am looking to explore more. So I have psyched myself into going back to learning.
You were recently pictured hugging Shah Rukh Khan at an awards function. Does this mean that all is forgiven and forgotten between you two?
Everything has an expiry date. From automobiles to food to love to human beings. So come on, the phase of not liking somebody is not very important that it would have such a long expiry date.
So, are you back to being friends with Shah Rukh?
No, no, no. You do not have to be friends but at the same time you do not need to have the animosity in your heart. You have to greet each other, be cordial, be nice, be civil, be gentle and that's how we must treat everyone. It is fine to be just that.
Do you still aspire to break records at the box office? What is it that you still aspire for?
I don't ever think that I have everything in this entire world. I want more and more and more. I have become like this greedy person. I just want more. I want my people to believe me if I say something; they should trust me, that is the only one thing I want from them. If I say something like, This is good for them' or That is bad for them' and This person is the best person for you', they should have faith in me. That is the personality I aspire to be and once I get that, I don't think I would need anything else. I do not think anyone has achieved that yet. I don't think I am going to achieve that as well but I have an advantage that I have got my movies, I have got my fans so subconsciously the way I get influenced by movies, my fans will also get influenced by my movies. So that is one plus point that I have.
My mission in life is to be transparent and speak as honestly as I can. To speak from my heart and even if it doesn't go down well with me or goes against me, I would not care.
Is there anything that scares you in life?
Now? Nothing. You get scared of small things here and there but as for fear as to what is going to happen with my life? Everyone wonders. How will I die? When will I die?' In the back of our minds these things do appear as to what will happen to our family, parents and kids but apart from that fear, nothing. There was this fear of the whole jail thing and all but that fear is gone now. That doesn't matter to me anymore.
You are currently sporting a salt and pepper look. Is this for any particular film?
I have dyed my beard slightly grey because I am playing an older character in my next film (Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick). I was required do a photo session where I am playing a slightly older character so I had to bleach my beard. This is for a test photo shoot. In the coming days my hair will also be dyed slightly grey for this character.
Salman on his protege Daisy
"The fact that we cast Daisy for the leading lady of this film meant that we respect her and we made sure that she got all the respect that she deserves as our leading lady. You have to take her respect to that level, so we took care of her like a princess. Even at times when the dancers or extras used to casually say "Aye, Daisy," I used to insist, "She is Daisy Maam now or Daisy ji. Finish. Done." You have to give her that kind of respect. There are times when people do not treat newcomers well. If they are not treated well then they will not perform well. You have to give them all the respect and support
Anupamaa
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