Marriage, at my age, is a big step: Salman Khan

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Says Salman Khan, dismissing rumours that he's engaged to Romanian Iulia Vantur, adds if marriage does happen, it will be only at night as he doesn't have the guts during the day.

Over the last few weeks there have been plenty of rumours about Salman Khan and Romanian model-and-TV anchor Iulia Vantur quietly getting engaged when he was shooting his wrestling drama in Chandigarh. Buzz is, the wedding of the year is scheduled for October.

Looking fighting fit in all-black, a smile playing on his lips, sitting in the 25th floor suite of a suburban five-star hotel, the sun going down into the Arabian Sea behind him to mark the end of another day, Salman shrugs off the rumours with a smile, saying, "These are just rumours as you said yourself. If I had got engaged or was getting married, I wouldn't wait for the news to leak out. I would announce it myself, it would be a proud moment for me, thode hi main chup rahoonga like those yesteryear stars who hid their wives thinking that it would lessen their fan following. I know the whole country would be happy for me."

But he did bring out his reported bride-to-be at Preity Zinta and Gene Goodenough's wedding reception last week? "Was I with her or was she with my sister (Alvira)?" he asks, adding with a twinkle, "I ran away in front. I don't want to keep the press so busy. My private life may be national news but it's not that important."

You have to dispute that, for years everyone has been waiting for one of the country's most-discussed bachelors to get hooked. Salman himself admits that he has always wanted to settle down.

"But it takes two to make a marriage, one difficult partner and the other easy-tolive-with," he points out. So, who's the difficult one? "I am," he admits. "I'm never home, I'm always surrounded by people, always working. If it's not a movie, it's an ad or Bigg Boss. Now there are big plans for my charity Being Human too. Along with movies and the clothing line, we will now venture into restaurants, jewellery and the digital platform. Where's the time?"

He's not the only one wishing the day was longer than 24 hours. Others have got married and had kids despite the time constraints. So can he? "If it has to happen, it will. It might just happen one night, I'll wake up in the morning to the thought, 'Ho gayi hai, ab jhelo isse,'" he laughs.

Why night? Is he planning to fly to Vegas to get hitched? He's quick to dismiss such fantasies, pointing out that it is likely to happen at night because he wouldn't have the guts to get married in the light of the day. "Earlier it would have been okay. But now, at my age, marriage is a very big step," he avers.

Salman is amazing with kids, they love him and he adores them.

Wouldn't he want a child of his own? "Yes, I'd like to have a child but the problem with that is with the child the mother comes along. If I can avoid the mother and have a child I wouldn't mind two or three. Tell me, if there's a solution," he jokes, and you point out that he could always opt for surrogacy. But surely it couldn't be so hard to put up with the mother? There are lots of lovely women around who would be happy to be with him. "That's the problem, there are lots of lovely women around. You said it," he chuckles, adding. "Hey, I'm just kidding,life is beautiful and I would be happy if marraige happened. And if it doesn't..." The shrug completes the sentence for him.

There's a reflective pause before the actor goes on to admit that today, having a child is more important to him than being with a woman. You wonder if he has thought of adopting one and the twinkle is back in his eyes as he retorts, "No, I haven't. I'm 50, but trust me, it's not too old for a man, not in India at least." The guffaw that follows is heart-warming!

While there's still time to produce a baby, Salman's production company is growing every year. "We are waiting for perfect scripts," says the actor-producer who's just handed over the Hindi version of the Punjabi superhit, Jatt and Juliet, to friend Ashwin Varde. "Ashwin and his partner Murad Khetani liked the subject. The screenplay, dialogues, music was done. It will launch my childhood friend's son, Zaheer. I won't be co-producing it or making a special appearance. I might just sing for the hero," he smiles.

Meanwhile, over the last two days, he's heard two "spectacular" scripts from Rajkumar Santoshi and Kabir Khan and has loved them. "I'm doing both films. They are beautiful stories like Bajrangi Bhaijaan after which kids love Pawan. Dr Muffazal Lakdawala's son made the Filipino hairdressers in Dubai watch the film's songs to give him his desired haircut," he laughs.

He's equally thrilled about his upcoming wrestling drama that's already created a huge buzz before its Eid release. "The buzz can't be bigger than the buzz I got shooting for it. It's turned out well. Besides the kushti and the pehalwangiri, it has a beautiful love story and great music, very different from my previous films," he says.

But he admits that it was a tougher shoot than he had thought because apart from the mandatory two-and-ahalf-hour training, he was also being picked up and slammed by wrestlers, punched and kicked by Mixed Martial Arts fighters for eight-10 hours on the sets. "I also had to lift up and slam wrestlers who weighed 120 kg, then go back to the work out,"he sighs, admitting that the trigeminal neuralgia has been minimised and the aneurysm is cured. "But I have to be careful. I tore two ligaments but continued working. That will affect me later."

So what drives him to do a film like this? He points out that today with ticket prices having gone up, he wants viewers to get paisa vasool entertainment. He also wants ticket rates to be brought down to Rs 200-250 for weekends and Rs 120-150 for weekdays, the way it is for regional films. It's because of the economics that Marathi films like Natasamrat and Sairat are getting more footfalls though with Hindi films the numbers are higher. "But we need the footfalls too," he asserts.

He must be happy his film is not clashing with Shah Rukh Khan's Raees this Eid? "We have only 5,000 screens and around 2,000 theatres. In a country of 125 crore, only 3.4 crore saw Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the most watched film ever. We are 20,000 theatres short. The day we have them two big hero films can come together," he asserts.

Meanwhile, apart from Big Boss where he refuses to play teacher or father but has made contestants believe that if they play it right they will get work after the show or else they won't, Salman is all set to produce and host The Farm.

It's on the lines of the Romanian show Iulia is hosting. "I saw it a long time ago and liked the format -- the kheti-badi and celebs playing kisaan, the plants, the vegetables and fruits, the chicken, goats, cows and doodh, the whole thing fascinated me," says Salman who has been spending time on his farm in Panvel and plans to drive back there tonight.

If he could have turned back the clock is there anything he'd change? "Nothing, everything is in synergy. If I change something, something else will change. No, I'm going with the flow, waiting for my journey to reach the climax, wondering when that will come, how it will come," he muses.

Maybe with an October wedding? "Some are saying October, some are saying December. Marriage wil happen if it has to. There's too much else to think about," he signs off with a smile.