Salman Khan goes by his 'pulse'

MUMBAI (Reuters) - If Bollywood has an actor with the Midas touch, it has to be Salman Khan.

The star, one of the Indian film industry's trio of Khans, is riding a wave of success that has seen three of his films make a billion rupees at the box office.

His latest film "Dabangg 2", a sequel to his 2010 hit, opens next week, and there are expectations Khan's mass appeal will ensure audiences will flock to cinemas.

But the actor has his own recipe for a blockbuster.

"I don't know the pulse of the audience. I have my own pulse and if I go by my own pulse and believe that this is what the audience wants, then I have got it," Khan told reporters at a promotional event for the film.

"If it is something that I want to do, then I don't think the audience will hate it. Unless I turn into a megalomaniac and start thinking that Salman Khan can do anything."

"Dabangg 2" is directed by Khan's brother Arbaaz and repeats the original film's screen pairing with Sonakshi Sinha.

Fortune may be smiling now but Khan says he knows success in the world's biggest film industry has come the hard way, after he learned how to deal with film-makers and movie producers.

"I make clear that the final cut will go with my approval," he says. "Sometimes I feel I hope I am not taking advantage of my stardom. That is a big guilt."

Khan is popular with both multiplex and single-screen audiences in India, but says it is tougher to be an actor now than it was when he made his debut in the 1980s.

"Now at 47, 48 I am expected to do ten times better work that I did when I was 24," he says.

"The older you get, the better you have to look, the higher you have to kick, the harder you have to work," Khan added.

(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar)