Most Bollywood appearances in the city take place a good few hours late. But the ‘Bhai’ of Bollywood turned up just under an hour later than expected, humouring an already partial crowd. Wearing his trademark Being Human tee, altered to read ‘Being Dabangg’, the actor took to the stage in front of a bevy of journalists and shutterbugs, each vying for an exclusive.
The event organised as a part of the promotion of Salman’s latest film, Dabangg 2, saw him rally questions effortlessly and with a charm and ease that has made him a bit of a media darling of late.
The film, a sequel to the largely popular Dabangg which released last year, features the seasoned actor as the quirky Chulbul Pandey, an honest cop who takes on bad guys in typical film-ishtyle. Starring Sonakshi Sinha as Pandey’s love interest, Dabangg 2 will see the lead pair reprise their roles.
Asked what could be expected of the latest, he replied, “Chulbul Pandey has become a benchmark. But while we can’t do something very different, we can’t do something very similar either. So the audience will have to judge for themselves on December 21 (the film’s release date). As for Sonakshi, you will see her look prettier and beautiful. She will also become a mother...in the film.”
The actor who owes his revived stardom to the film Wanted (2009) which was a remake of the South film Pokiri, has since enjoyed success from films which were remakes. “An actor is only as big as his last film, immaterial of what they’ve achieved before,” he commented sagaciously, but not before pointing out that the South writers have been doing some better writing in recent times, which has worked for them in Bollywood. However, one of the biggest hits this year in Tollywood was the remake of Dabangg, starring Pawan Kalyan.
Talking about the role of Chulbul Pandey, Khan went on to say, “It is the easiest role anyone can play. All you have to do is shout a lot and pretend you are a big man. The difficult part of acting is with roles that have no description and its up to the actor to emote the character, and Govinda does that best.”
While the film’s USP is the comic caricature and the action (Salman’s recent string of hits have been action movies), the actor is already bracing himself for a change in the industry. “Any genre of film is popular only for about five to six years and then it recreates itself into another kind. The honest cop film formula is working for now, but it’ll soon morph into something else, like family drama. I think the germ started with Garv (2009) and we’re seeing the best of it now.”
So will the sequel have scenes from the tweaked Telugu movie? “I haven’t seen Dabangg itself, where would I have found the time to watch Gabbar Singh? Nevertheless, no scenes have been lifted as far as I know.”
And if Dabanng 2 were to be remade as well, which actor does he think would best suit the role? “I don’t watch Telugu films but I do like Rajnikanth, Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu. But the most suited actor would be the person who buys the rights to the film,” he replied cheekily.
The film is directed by brother Arbaaz Khan and produced under his banner with Malaika Arora Khan. A family venture, it begged the question: who of the three brothers would best personify ‘dabangg’? Diplomatic and tactful, the actor smiled and replied, “The three of us together.”