Salman working hard to take on ex-flame Aishwarya

After the debacle of Veer, Bollywood hunk Salman Khan has his hopes pinned on Dabangg. The Arbaaz Khan production is his next major release, in which he appears in in all new avatar. Salman plays the baddie, a corrupt cop in the film. He's mighty kicked about showing his darker side on screen.

Reportedly, Salman is keen for Dabangg to release on the eve of Eid! His film Wanted had released on Eid last year and film was a huge hit.

His role as a hitman was liked by audiences and the film enjoyed great commercial success. Salman hopes to do an encore with Dabangg this year. A devout Muslim, the festival is very close to his heart. Salman obviously believes that Eid is lucky time for him, professionally.

Salman is so focused on this project that he has put all his other assignments on hold. He has never known to do that since his Maine Pyar Kiya days.

An Eid release is likely to clash with Vipul Shah's Action Replay. That will see Salman being pitted against Khiladi Akshay Kumar and former flame Aishwarya Rai at the box office. But even that fails to deter the adamant star.

Actor Shatrughan Sinha's daughter, the petite Sonakshi will debut in this film. Besides her, it will be a debut venture for the director Abhinav Kashyap. It's also producer Arbaaz Khan maiden venture and will star Mahi Gill of Dev D fame.

We have locked in on September 30, for Eid. "We feel that week will be good for Dabangg. But let's see if we're ready on time because we still have four songs to shoot. And then we need a clear three months for the post- production marketing and publicity. So the date is liable to change, " says Arbaaz. Going by Salman's clout in Bollywood, that doesn't seem likely.