EXCLUSIVE: ‘Not bothered whether 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' does 200 or 300 crores!’ – Kabir Khan

Director Kabir Khan may just be five films old in Bollywood, but he surely knows the formula that makes a film work at the Box Office. The director, though modestly admits that he doesn’t believe in numbers, somehow manages to churn out scripts which keep the cash registers ringing. ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, his upcoming film with Salman Khan seems to be no different. In a swift tête-à-tête, Kabir shares his experience of shooting the much awaited film and his expectations from the movie.

There have been many controversies that have cropped up around ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. What is your reaction to them?

One should not be bothered by it. We shouldn’t let a small flinch element, who screams and shouts on streets, let affect anybody. What happens unfortunately in our society is that the liberal minded people, who are progressive, they don’t scream and shout. I think we should totally ignore them. Their agenda is to spread negativity and hatred. Secularism is the most important aspect of this country so just because some people have a problem doesn’t mean that should affect me.

This is the second time you are working with Salman Khan. How was the experience?

He is a superstar who has been around for 25 years. It is just that his approach to both films was different. Bajrangi is a story very close to his heart and he reacted emotionally and strongly towards it. There is a certain approach he took. The role of Bajrangi is an antithesis to what he has been doing for the last 10 years. But he wanted to do that. So in that sense it has been a great level of involvement from his side in performing it this time.

Were there less difference of opinion between Salman and you as compared to ‘Ek Tha Tiger’?

Oh yes much less! ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ was the first time we were collaborating and hence it took us really long to understand each others’ working. In ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, because we knew each other so well, we didn’t have any discussion or debate! It was a smooth, enjoyable process, hectic shoot – start to finish and we enjoyed lot while shooting.

You generally work with the same set of actors. How did you decide to work with Kareena Kapoor Khan in ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’?

I am just 5 films old so as such there are no set rules. But yes I enjoy repeating the actors, of course depending on the story. For Bajrangi, Rasika’s character is more appropriate for Kareena than it is for Katrina. Hence I didn’t approach Katrina for it. Similarly, for ‘Phantom’ I thought Saif Ali Khan is the correct casting. It depends story to story. After you watch the film, you will understand why Salman is appropriate to play Bajrangi. That role could not have been done by anyone. Had it been slightly different, something that was suitable for a Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan, then I would have gone to them. I am open to working with anybody. But when you work with same people, there is more of a comfort zone.

There were lot of ups and downs during ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ shoot with reference to Salman’s case. Did that hamper your shooting schedule?

To be honest no because one thing is that Salman Khan internalizes all the stress that he is going through and he doesn’t sort of let the crew get affected. He doesn’t allow the crew sense stress, which I am sure he was going through, which in fact anyone who is coming up for a sentence would go through. The crew didn’t really face that. We knew about the sentencing long before went to shoot in Kashmir. We had scheduled the whole week of shoot without Salman. But on the day of the sentencing we were slightly stressed. Due to the shrillness of the news channel, we were little scared as to if something has happened that we didn’t know about because legally we knew that it is a lower sessions court and he would be getting bail from the High Court. There was no surprise in it. When he came back from there, it was routine. So no it didn’t really hamper my schedule.

You have worked on films with a political backdrop and ones which are commercial in nature. Is it difficult to make movies that are more rooted in story than pulling off gags?

I wouldn’t know because the other kind of films I wouldn’t make and I wouldn’t rather enjoy watching. I cannot make a story if there is no real context to it. I guess that is due to my background of a documentary filmmaker. For me, it will be difficult to write story without context and to just do a love story without a vacuum.

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Do you think this film will reach out to the secular masses easily given that there is a star presence in it?

Absolutely! It will reach out to a large number of people and to all kind of people. Even people who are narrow minded to people of other communities will be embarrassed seeing this film. It is about the goodness of the human heart and how false are these divides between us. When ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ happened, I realized the mega stardom that Salman Khan has. That is when I thought what if we do a film where the hero of the movie is actually a story. It is a story that will work even without the superstar. Add to that the super stardom of Salman Khan and then it will go through the roof.

Harshali Malhotra is winning hearts ever since the teaser launch. How difficult was to find her and how was the entire experience of working with her?

It was a long process because she was the most important casting of the movie. We auditioned 1000s of girls in Pune, Mumbai, Kashmir, Tehran, Kabul etc. After that we did a workshop and then I zeroed down upon Harshali. In her I saw the burning desire to do this movie because a six year old might lose the interest to do a film mid-way and you cannot force them also. But she was very motivated and hence I started working with her. Working with her was the most joyful as well as the most challenging experience. With any other actor, if you have to make them cry – you just explain the shot and then they go apply glycerin and do the shot. But when I tell a little girl that you have to cry, she has a question – ‘How do I cry?’. So then I have to explain her the entire process. It is like clay in your hand and when you see the result on screen, you feel a different sense of joy.

Kareena said in the interview that she absolutely enjoyed working with you. What was your experience?

Oh, she is lovely. Kareena is such a positive presence on-screen. The character was tailor made for her. This role only she could have pulled off. Hence I took the script to her. She loved it. In fact, she had tears in her eyes by the end of the narration. She is really adding a lot to the film. It was a sheer pleasure working with her.

Whenever there is a Salman Khan movie up for a release; there are sky high expectations from the film’s box office collections. Does that bother you?

No not really. I have never thought like that. Honestly, even though it is my fifth film, I have not quite understood the trade game. I don’t get into figures. I started getting interested into figures when ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ released. Figures are important because you need to be commercially successful. And fortunately, all my films have been successful, but yet I feel beyond a point, numbers shouldn’t define a film. I am not too bothered whether the film does 200 crores or 300 crores. I just want people to get the right message and they should enjoy this movie.

Lastly, did you face problems while getting the Censor certificate?

No not really. The film is a nice human relationship story and has nothing contentious for Censors to react.