Bollywood superstar Salman Khan heads onto the big screen this weekend in Kabir Khan’s highly anticipated Tubelight. The film, set in 1962, revolves around two brothers torn apart by the Indo-Sino war.
Also starring Khan's real-life brother Sohail Khan, Chinese actress Zhu Zhu and late BAFTA award-winning actor Om Puri (East is East), Tubelight heads to Cineworld this weekend – and we were fortunate enough to talk to Khan about the film, his expectations of Tubelight and much more...
How did this Indo-Chinese film come about for you as an actor and one of the producers?
My
You are known to provide input to directors for your movies to make them more commercial. Why is that?
When I was a kid, we used to go the cinema and we would watch a film based on the trailer or poster we would have seen. After leaving the cinema, we would want to be the hero.
Do you think the emotions in Tubelight will come across more realistic since your real-life brother Sohail Khan is playing your reel-life brother?
Absolutely. There is nothing better than two real-life brothers playing brothers on-screen. If it was another or a more established actor, it would have worked as well. However, my performance would have suffered and so would the film. Any of our leading actors in Bollywood would have happily played the part that Sohail is portraying. They are all friends and no one would have refused to dedicate 25 days to play the part. Economically, we may not get the box office figures that would have poured in if an A-list Bollywood star was playing my on-screen brother. But the film works, and when the film works with the right emotions, the end result is always much better.
Your last few films have been released on holidays such as Eid. Is that strategic?
My debut film released during Christmas and from then on we have tried to release movies on public or festive holidays. The reason is quite simply due to people being happy during such times and they do have a little bit more money as well. They like going to the cinema during holidays and we do get more footfall. I also try not to release my films during exam periods in India as a huge chunk of our audience is unable to take out time for movies.
Om Puri, known for East is East in the UK, passed away earlier this year and Tubelight will be his last on-screen appearance. How was your experience of working with him?
I worked with Om Puri in about 5-6 movies. He was more a friend than co-star to me and one of the most amazing human beings one can know. He was also a phenomenal actor. I was extremely saddened by his demise. It was very emotional for me to
You are a Box Office king and people have certain expectations on how much your films will earn. Does that bother you?
No matter how many hits you have had or how many years you have been in the industry, one can never tell the outcome of an upcoming film. The audience decides the fate of a film. We can market and
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Tubelight releases at Cineworld today – click here to book your tickets!
Fun Fact: Salman Khan was a part of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, released in 1997. It was the top grossing film at
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Sunny Malik is a Bollywood Freelance Journalist who interviewed Salman Khan for Cineworld.