Salman Khan has had a taste of box office success after long. Earlier this year, his family actioner Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan failed to attract audiences to the theatres (It had a lifetime collection of about Rs 100 crore). Finally, with another segment of the established Tiger franchise, the actor has managed to surpass the Rs 250-crore mark in the domestic market. Still, Salman, who has been in the industry for 35 years, refuses to be considered a superstar.
In an interview, the actor gets candid about the low points in his career, his banter with Shah Rukh Khan in Tiger 3, and his thoughts on stardom.
Excerpts:
On getting the taste of success
I don’t taste success at all. I think success has made more failures than failure itself. What is important is to get the bitter taste of failure, so that it gets you to work your best. Sometimes, to succeed, you have to change everything about yourself. You have to work harder, be more sincere, more dedicated, more motivated. Failure is something we all have gone through and anybody who has made it after that is the real winner.
On Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and Antim unable to match the success of Tiger 3
When these films were released, people were not going to theatres. Moreover, we didn’t do blockbuster prices, we were going for popular prices. Our box office numbers were lower in those films but we focused on saving the audience’s money. How much did you watch Tiger 3 at? Rs 600, 1000? For KKBKKJ and Antim our prices were not over Rs 250.
On stardom and who he considers a superstar
Whoever thinks of themselves as a superstar in their mind is a superstar. I don’t think of myself that way. Some people like to be called a star or a megastar, which is something I don’t condone. Stardom doesn’t show in the way I am, perhaps it shows in the way I walk. My walk is considered to be arrogant but I cannot change it. Sometimes people say ‘yeh dekho, inki chaal dekho, apne aap ko kya samajhte hai? (Look at him, his walk, what does he think of himself)?’ But I have been walking like that since childhood. Now if I walk like someone else then it won’t suit me. I don’t think I have done anything to receive complete credit for the superstardom. Everyone from our DOPs (Director of Photography) to directors, to scriptwriters helped this normal, average Bandra boy look heroic on screen. So, I can’t take complete credit for that.
On career lows
The lows that I have been through might be the highest point for 99.9 percent of people in the country. So, if I say there was a low for me then fans might say ‘yeh iska low hai toh hamara kya hai?’ (If these are your lows then what about ours?). But your failures are always because of your fault. You can’t get complacent. Every year, you have to work twice as hard because you are growing old too. You are competing with juniors and seniors but the most important thing is to compete with yourself.
On not doing a Yash Raj film for years and if the Tiger franchise was worth the wait
It’s not that I haven’t done a YRF film for a long time, Adi (Producer Aditya Chopra) hasn’t done a Salman Khan film for so long. It’s a question he should be answering. And when it comes to being ‘worth the wait’, I think it was worth the wait for Adi as well.
On working with Emraan Hashmi and his favorite moments with him
I have always liked Emraan. My favorite moment in this film was when he didn’t get a chance to kiss (laughs). I think he is very effective as an actor. It’s difficult to match up to Tiger’s character but Emraan did it easily and successfully.
On Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo in Tiger 3
The scene was written but we improvised it a bit. It is easy for us because we (me and Shah Rukh) have chemistry and a fondness for each other. It’s a “You say this line. No, you go for it” sort of thing. We don’t compete amongst ourselves. I think while doing a film it is important to not compete with each other but work alongside to create an epic scene.