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Salman Khan comes to the interview without his bluster and his accent. So you risk asking a question he obviously has no interest in, even though you're dying to know the answer. Instantly, the quintessential Sallu emerges to cock a snook at a journalist, yet again. The false start to this interview goes something like this:
Is Saawariya based on White Nights?
What's that?
A short story by Dostoevsky.
Who's that?
Okay, point taken. It's time to reboot and restart.
Did the cameo role in itself interest you or did you take up Saawariya only because it was offered by Sanjay Bhansali?
If Sanjay comes to me with a role, it's usually good. Sanjay is a fantastic filmmaker, my only comment on his films is that they lack humour. It's a common joke between us that I always put humour into his films. Sanjay feels intensity is akin to emotions, but I don't believe so. So, with Sanjay, I always change lines and turn around scenes to add a dash of humour to them.
You're known to ad-lib with lines and not follow the dialogues given to you. Does Sanjay Bhansali allow this too?
Yes, of course. He allows me to ad-lib much more than any other director. I've added subtle humour to Saawariya. In Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam too, the entire conversations I was shown to have with my father on screen, is the way I talk to God in real life. That time our thoughts matched perfectly because Sanjay said he talks to his father in the same way. In fact, he was so spooked by my suggestion, and the fact that we both talk to someone up there the same way, that he went into depression for the next three days!
So much of your acting is 'ada', style.
Yes, it is. And it's my own style. The first and only lesson I've got in acting is to be myself. When I first went to acting school, I was given a few lines to say from Pyaasa. I couldn't get it right for weeks, and that's when I was told that I shouldn't try to 'act', but should be myself. I still can't get those lines right! But I've learnt my lesson. I'm Salman Khan in all my films, I don't try to be different characters.
You never try to get under the skin of your characters?
See, the point is that any good-looking guy doesn't come across as a good 'actor'. He comes across as a star. It's only when we see the ugly guys that we say, 'Oh, what a good actor'. Chill, he's just not a good-looking guy, that's all.
You give a lot of importance to looks.
Looks are important in cinema which is a visual medium. Once you get the look, the walk and the costume right, most of the battle is won. It's important to look good.
How much of your image is the real you?
I'm immune to my image now, the image that has emerged from all these youngsters pushing a mike into my hand and asking me weird questions. But what image are you talking about exactly? Are you talking about my temper, etc?
That too, yes. Are you working on controlling it?
But I don't have a temper. I have a lot of anger in me. But I don't kick the car if it doesn't start or lose it if I'm kept waiting on the sets for hours. I'm chilled out about these things. But yes, I do get terribly angry about issues, I do take a stand sometimes, and then I go all out, chahe kuch bhi ho jaye. But without anger we wouldn't be humans, would we?
Yours is completely impulsive living?
(Laughs) We've all been brought up to believe that life is all about black and white, right and wrong. And that this is the 'right' thing to do and the 'only' thing that is good for me. What planning can one do in this scenario? I really believe that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.
But you have moved on from being the black sheep of the family to the biggest star in it. Are they happy?
Come on, I wasn't the black sheep. I was always the naughty one, flouting rules and getting into trouble. Today, yes, Dad's happy that I've at least tried to give back something to them. But he also feels that I've harmed the family, given them a lot of pain… All this prison business, court cases, stress him out. Put me in prison, I'm okay, but they suffer. I can't even talk about it because it's 'sub-judice', but the whole world talks about it. So, I've definitely taken more from my family than I've given them.
How's your painting coming along, how did you learn to paint?
I had enrolled in the JJ School of Arts to do a course there. But only for two days… After two days I saw that the crowd at Xavier's was better, so I changed college very quickly! Later, instead of pursuing painting, I became a pillar at every nightclub in town, as a youngster. (Laughs) But yes, I do have a knack for painting.
To return to Saawariya, when Sanjay Bhansali was schooling the two youngsters, Sonam and Ranbir, to act, did you get involved?
I had my scenes with Sonam, and no, I didn't need to help her much. Her role required her to be hesitant and scared, and she was quite hesitant and scared anyway. And then there would be a sudden burst of confidence. That's youth! Sanjay used to fire them, I heard him firing Sonam once, but before I could react, they were laughing together again. So I guess everything was fine. If Saawariya does well, yeh dono bachchon ka dimaag kharab ho jayega. That's the outcome of a first big hit. If it doesn't do well, they have to dig within themselves to come up with the strength to fight back.
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