 "Salman Khan")
Salman Khan, the ‘bad boy of Bollywood with a heart of gold’, is set to take his charity initiative, Being Human, to newer heights. Khan intends to use his connections to expand the scope to entertainment and even restaurants. He chats with Urvi Malvania at Mehboob Studio about Being Human and his coming flick, Jai Ho. Edited excerpts:
How and where do you aim to take Being Human over the next couple of years?
The plans are very large. We are taking our time; whatever we do has to stick (with the people). There is no scope for failure. There’s lot of stuff to be done. We started the first Being Human store in Mumbai recently and are looking at being present in 1,800-plus sale points by 2015, including shops-in-shops.
We are also doing this thing called Being Alive, where there will be small rock (music) shows, getting the bands together and DJs playing. It’s about capitalising on the synergies in the entertainment industry and raising funds. We also want to get into the restaurant business, eventually. Whatever business we do will be only to raise money for the Being Human charitable foundation.
You recently wrapped up Bigg Boss 7 and earlier anchored Dus Ka Dum. How has your experience been on the small screen?
It was beautiful (working on Bigg Boss 7). It was a roller-coaster ride. The format of the show is unique. Everybody seemed to enjoy it.
Television gives me a chance to interact with the common man, whether it is Dus Ka Dum or Bigg Boss. The only difference is in the latter; there are celebrities as well and I interact with them twice a week. In Dus Ka Dum, it would be someone I have met for the first time, so the familiarity is not there.
Is it true you are planning to produce Bigg Boss next year?
No. These are all rumours. It’s an Endemol property and I do not think anyone can co-produce it.
Tell us about Jai Ho.
It’s a film I wanted to do. The way people are portraying it (with politics), it has nothing to do with it. It is about this one person who gets into trouble (while) helping somebody unknowingly. Jai Ho tells the story of one man’s personal vendetta against people who wronged his family.
How do you plan to promote the movie?
We are doing all the usual things (to promote the film). The idea is to spread awareness about the movie. Right now, we are not even talking about the release of the film. We are, in fact, spending time asking stupid questions which have nothing to do with our film. We have a dialogue in our film which is (related to) the whole aam aadmi corruption thing. The film is a full-on entertainer.
Was it a conscious break you took in 2013?
I have actually been very busy in 2013. The reason there was no new movie was because there was a strike, due to which we lost three to four months (of shooting). The movie was supposed to release on Eid. If you cancel the dates once, to get everyone back takes a long time. In fact, Kick was supposed to release now; it has gone on to the next year. So, everything has been delayed.
Bollywood movies did very well abroad last year. What are your plans with Jai Ho in the international markets?
Dhoom 3 has done really really well. I am very happy for Aamir (Khan) and Adi (Aditya Chopra). It’s money well spent and money well earned. It shows when you do something correct, there is an audience and a repeat audience and, hence, scope for business. And, the business is only growing.
Once the film is done, all we can do is wait and watch (to know) who is going to see the film on which day and how many people are going to watch it and how many people are going see it twice or thrice. For example, in the case of Dabangg 2, we know it’s a superb film and everyone is going to watch it. But the winter in the north was so harsh; you could not see anything once you left your house. In a situation like this, who is going to go to a theatre to see a film? So, from the first to the second Dabangg, there was a 60 per cent drop and that was because of the winter; not in our control. We realise it was our destiny that people could not see the film in the movie hall.
The release (of Jai Ho) is going to be in thousands of prints; there is no question about that. The rest of the stuff is not in our control or anybody’s for that matter.
People are expecting big numbers from Jai Ho.
Obviously, the number people expect from the movie are pretty large and if that doesn't happen, it will be upsetting. I also feel the whole deal with collections and highest collection on a day and all is just hype. But the movie is also about a message that I hope people get. Which is that when someone helps you, don’t just say thank you and forget about it; go ahead and do your bit by helping some (other) people as well.
