Exclusive Interview With Salman Khan- Radhe Your Most Wanted Bhai

Journo: Salman sir aapko Eid ki bahot bahot badhaai.
SK: Bahot bahot shukriya aur aapko bhi.

Journo: Radhe big screen ko kitna miss kar rahi hai?
SK: Jitna ki main big screen ko miss kar raha hu aur utna hi Radhe bhi big screen ko miss kar rahi hai.

Actually, ye big screen ki film hai aur jo action, gaane aur is film ka jo plot hai, wo bada hi abhi ka plot hai.

ab decide to kar liya tha ke Eid pe aayenge, but lockdown ho gaya tha to peechli baar nahi aa sake, to ek saal aur isko delay kar diya.

Theatre owners ne kaha don’t do OTT, come on screen, but theatres band ho rahe they and we were going through miserable time.

So we thought it was a good thing to do. Aur jaise humne announce kiya, ye lockdown ho gaya aur phir humko aisa laga ki ye lockdown 15 din ka hoga aur wapis se theatre shuru ho jayenge 30 ya 50 percent ke andar and people will go and see the film in the theatre but wo bhi nahi hua which is a good thing because log jaate theatres mein aur khud ana khasta waha kisi ek ko bhi corona ho jaata to it would have been very bad.

So jab bhi ye sab clear ho jayega, us waqt hum isko theatre mein release kar denge.. ab isme kya hota hai jab isme nuksaan hota hai koi nibhaata nahi hai…

Zee aur hum log anokhi hai ki humara loss to hoga kyuki aap ko to pata hai ke theatres mein release nahi hogi picture to Zee will also face it and we will also face it..

so we partnered in the loss now for the reason ke is time pe humko ye film laani thi taaki logo ka dil behle aur ek distraction ho jaaye… to isiliye hum ye film leke aa rahe hai…

Now you can watch the film on platforms, overseas mein to theatres mein aa hi rahi hai. India mein bahot kam theatres bache hai – 25-30 hi theatres bache hai, to jaha pe release hogi ye film, to uska koi collection aane ka hai nahi. Hum log abhi 250 marte hai, 300 marte hai, 150 marte hai…

Ye baar hum maar nahi rahe hai kuch… to nuksaan ke andar commitment nibhana was the right thing kyuki humara loss hoga lekin at least manoranjan aur entertainment humare fans ko milega at a much lesser cost than what they would go and see Radhe in the theatres.

It is a good thing that you would get to watch the movie with your family in the safe environment of your house, jaha theatre khule hai waha theatre owners are taking great precaution to ensure that they show you the film with all the safety and precaution.

So intention correct hai. Film achhi bani hai, aap logo ne gaane bhi dekhe hai – Seeti Maar or Dil De Diya… ab Zoom Zoom release ho gaya, Radhe release ho gaya hai aur humko isme bilkul hi time nahi mila to promote the songs but ye saare gaane organically bade bade hit ho gaye, means people are starved for entertainment.

I have heard that Seeti Maar has crossed over 100 million… mujhe nahi pata ke social media pe ye kitna achha hai ya kitna bura hai, but people around me are saying that it has done really well and even the other songs are doing well.

Zee se yeh report aayi hai that the music has been appreciated a lot. So now the movie is going to come on your phones, laptops, screens, television, so you can very easily access the film aur phir jab ye sab relax ho jayega, tab hum isko zaroor theatres mein leke aayenge because this is a big screen film. ye multiplex aur single screen ki picture hai. Log jaake enjoy kar sakte hai… iske gaane, action, humour… har cheez.

Toh hai to screen ki film – sound, visuals, action, etc. aap dekhoge to aapko samajh mein aa jayega ki aapko fans aur audience ke saath dekhne ka alag hi mazaa aayega lekin ab aap apne family ke saath bhi dekh sakte hai aur is film ka maza loot sakte hain.

Parag: Aisi khabar aayi hai ke kuch scenes change kiye hai OTT ko dhyaan mein rakhte hue… wo kitni sahi khabar hai?

SK: Nahi, nahi, ye sach nahi hai. Humara jo cut hai, wo theatres ke liye cut tha.. to jab ek film jab hum shoot karte hai to usme kabhi kabhi aisa lagta hai ke ye scene bahot achha hai, aur jab usko totality ke andar dekhte hai, edit karte hai film ko, to chota mota beech beech ka nikal jaata hai…

ye double ho raha hai, ye theek nahi hai, ye information bahot zyada hai, isko thoda stylized karte hai… so that is filmmaking..

so aisa kuch nahi hai ke OTT ke liye humne kuch nikala hai. In fact, OTT ke liye, humko badhana hi chahiye, because aaj kal series bhi chalte hai to Radhe ko we could have made into a two and half or three hour film so that ghar baithe baithe you can watch it and not get bored.

I try to keep my films 2 hours 20 mins roughly so that its an easy watch and sometimes even lesser.

Ab wo jaisi Bajrangi Bhaijaan jaisi picture hai, to that would go to 2.30 or 2.35 hours but action film will be at this length only.

It is about a character and wo character jitna hold karta hai screen ke upar, utna hi hum log rakhte hai usko.

Parag: Mera dusra swaal ye hai ki jab bhi desh mein koi emergency aati hai, film industry hamesha khadi rehti hai aur is baar film industry ka support Ek alag hi level par hai. Kya kahenge…

SK: ye hamesha se aap dekh lijiye ke hamesha film industry hi first aati hai support karne ke liye.

Aur humari hi film industry nahi, aap South ki bhi lelo, any language industry… they would be the first ones to stand there because jo awareness hai wo unse failta hai aur logo tak pahochti hai, aur fans humari baat sun lete hai.

Parag: Last sawaal hai ki covid k haalat ko dekhte hue kuch log abhi bhi nahi samajh rahe hai, bheed kar rahe hai, unko kya kehna chahenge?

SK: Kya kahe unko abhi? Dedh saal ho gaya hai, aur is baar ka jo wave hai wo pehle se bahot zyada khatarnaak hai.

Pehle ke wave ke andar sunai deta tha ke isko covid ho gaya ya usko covid ho gaya hai, pass mein nahi hua karta tha, apne gharo mein nahi hua karta tha, kisi aur ke ghar mein hua karta tha… door door… lekin ab hum sab ke ghar mein ho raha hai… bas humi bach bach ke kaise nikal rahe hai humi ko pata hai.

I think that everyone should be safe, aur specially ye jo vaccine ka hai, ye to laga lena hi chahiye.

Pehla dose aur second dose ka ye matlab nahi ke aapko Corona nahi hoga… ho sakta hai aapko Corona ho, lekin aapko us ventilator stage tak – us hospital ke stage taka ap nahi pahochoge vaccination ke baad. Vaccination is a must.

Main ek lagwa chuka hu, in fact, kal hi mere mother aur father ne dusra dose le liya. My second dose will be in over 10-15 days. Apni safety pehle.

You need to take care of yourself. Chalo aapko ho gaya, aap bach gaye…aapke parivaar mein kisi ko severe ho gaya aur wo ventilator par hai, aapko kitna kharab lagega… aur god forbid unka intekaal ho jaata hai, to aap zindagi bhar you will hold yourself responsible for that which is not a good thing.

Ek to loss uske upar se wo guilt ke maine etihaat kyu nahi rakha. Agar aapka test negative aaya aur agar aap apne kaam se ghoom rahe ho to iska matlab ye nahi kea ap positive nahi ho sakte… utni der mein aapne kisi aur ko to thamaa diya na coronavirus.

You need to be very careful of this. Problem yeh hai ki ek saath itne logo ko ho raha hai aur humare pass to medical infrastructure hi nahi hai, humare pass kya kisi ke pass bhi nahi hai… so nobody is to be blamed at all.

Poore hospitals bhare hue hai aur humari government ne bahot saare centres bhi khole hai, aur sab ekdum full hai.

Na humare pass oxygen hai abhi, na medication bhi kyuki because so many people have got it in lungs, and most of them are dying because they don’t have place to go to the hospitals.

Agar ye jagah hoti hospitals ke andar aur medication hote hai because of all these people didn’t get it together on time, we would have been able to save a lot more lives.

I know a lot of people have lost their closed one. We have also lost close people and we have seen also close people going through 20 days of sheer misery and coming out of it. So we just need to be very careful in how we conducting ourselves.

Joyeeta: film industry bhi jis tareeke se saamne aa rahi hai, aap sabne jo kiya hai apne apne tareeke se logo ke liye aura ap jo kar rahe ho, aise mein khabar aa rahi hai ki Radhe ki kamaai bhi Covid relief ko jayegi. Ye kitna sach hai aur kis tarah se kar rahe hai?

SK: Isme main aapko batau ki isme hum kamayenge nahi, isme hum gawaayenge hi gawaayenge.

Jo bhi jayega wo humari or se jayega, wo Zee ki or se jayega, to aapko aisa lag raha hai ki humne ye film release ki hai, taaki hum kamaaye isme… isme hum gawaayenge kyuki humara theatrical release nahi ho raha hai. Jo theatrical ka jo ek amount aata tha, to uske upar hum kamaate hai, to wo to aayega nahi abhi.

To hum gawaayenge uske baawajood, uske alava jo humara production ka niklega cost hai jo humne invest kiya hai picture ke andar, usme se bhi dalenge.

Hum kar hi rahe hai. Ab last time bhi humne 3000 aur 1500 baate they, is baar bhi hum wo karenge, kar hi rahe hai, wo process start ho chuka hai.

I think 45-50,000 people from the film industry including daily wage workers will get the amount so that they can survive for at least some time.

We are organizing concentrators. Ek baat mujhe 4-5 din pehle pata chali ke jo humare fan clubs hai wo itna accha kaam kar rahe hai, I was really shocked and surprised how much work they have done and I am really grateful and thankful to them that apne khud ke paiso se, apne haath se unhone itna kaam kiya hai. They have recently tweeted about all the work they have done.

Niti: Eid ki bahot saari badhai aapko. Aapki jodi Prabhudeva sir ke saath bahot hi hit rahi hai hamesha se. aap dono ko ek wavelength pe kya saath lekar aata hai?

SK: I think he is a very talented actor and director, dancer and choreographer to hai hi. He knows heroes and he knows the pulse of the audience.

Aur humare saath ye bahot accha hua hai…Wanted came and became a big hit, aur uske baad last picture jo aaye to wo poora North band ho gaya tha and all theatres got shut, so Dabangg took a big hit on that.

And now Radhe… this is the second hit it’s taking from last Eid and now this Eid, because of Mr Coronavirus… to we just hope that things go well not just for the film industry but for everyone, especially for daily wage earners.

Abhi main farm pe tha to network chala gaya tha so I drove back here and I saw traffic there and I was like ye itna traffic kaise, not realizing that I am also part of that traffic. The only way to do this is that bahar mat niklo kuch time ke liye.

Sarita: beautiful trailer and songs. Salman khan ka commitment kitna bada hai ki unhone apna nuksaan ko ignore kar diya aur aa gaye Eid pe promise kiya tha…

SK: it is a fact because aapko yaad hoga ek letter aaya tha humare pass wo social media par where the theatre owners said that humare theatres band ho rahe hai, intention theatres mein lane ki thi, but ab jo intention tha wohi nahi ho raha.

We thought that Radhe would come and people will start coming back to the theatres, aur intention clearly wo tha lekin uske baad ye lockdown ho gaya to wo nahi ho paaya, but then I also thought ke jab ye khatam ho jayega tab theatres mein release kar lenge, lekin abhi filhaal, is situation ke andar ghar pe baithke dekhna is better, for India at least right now aur kharcha bhi nahi hai.

Na popcorn ka kharcha, na samosa ka kharcha, na taxi ka, na rickshaw ka, na petrol ka, na multiplex aur single screens ke ticket ka… to basically jo aapko ghar se theatre tak jaane ke liye jitney paise lagte hai wo aap usme poori picture dekh loge.

It is very cost-efficient for the people also right now because nobody is working. Ye aa rahi hai Zee5 pe, phir Zeeplex par and so its very affordable. Aapka faayda hai, hum humara nuksaan jhel lenge.

Sarita: Salman Khan ke fans kabhi bhi Salman ki film ko miss karte hai to wo is movie ko dekh sakte hai.

Aapke dance moves and style kaafi change hua hai… log bahot pasand kar rahe hai aur ab Allu Arjun se aapko compare kar rahe hai…

SK: Wo fans ka love hai. Allu Arjun is one of the best dancers I have seen. If they are comparing then it’s good lekin main meri dancing capacity se bahot wakif hu.

Jo mere mein jitna talent hai dancing ka, I am very aware of my dancing talent. Agar main mehnat karu uspe thodi si aur to main kar sakta hu, ye nahi bolunga ken abhi kar sakta, lekin dheere dheere… abhi to start kiya hai, to isko dheere dheere badhayenge hum.

End end mein Michael Jackson aur Prabhudeva se behtar dancer banunga. Abhi usko time hai, 30-40 saal hai usko abhi.

Heena: trailer aur gaane ko bahot achha response mil raha hai… ye film aapke special bhi hogi kyuki Wajid ke saath aapka association bahot lamba raha. Aur aise mein unki film ke ye jo gaane hai, jo aakhri gaane mane ja rahe hai, Sajid ne kaha ki unka moral itna down ho gaya tha, ki aapne unko samjhaya aur phir unhe kaam karne ke liye tayyar kiya.

SK: Ya, he lost his brother, in fact his best friend, his business partner, they used to work together, so uthne se leke raat tak they used to be together.

So kaam bhi saath, bhai bhi, mohabbat bhi itni zyada, and suddenly he lost him to Covid. It was a big jolt for him and then he picked himself up and started working hard, aur ye gaane jo Radhe ke liye banaye they wo to hai lekin mere pass Wajid ke bahot saare gaane pade hai.

Wajid will always be alive kyuki bahot saare tunes hai, mukhde hai, aur bahot saare ribs jo pade hai, wo Sajid Wajid ke mere pass pade hai jo ki hum har film ke andar itna material pada hai, almost about 100 hit songs.. kyuki kya hota tha they used to come and they used to sing a song to me, we used to keep a few songs side mein, so all those songs are with me.

Ab jab aisi picture aayegi, jisme wo gaane fit honge, hum un gaano ko fit kar denge. And some of them also have Wajid’s voice.

Jab tak hum zinda hai, we will keep Wajid’s voice alive. And the next generation will keep on listening to music. I think he was one of the most talented people who never got his due.

Anurag: aapka dance step jo hai Dil De Diya main, wo aapke dimaag ki upaj hai ya phir Shabina Khan ke saath…

SK: Dekho ye aise karte karte ho gaya aur Shabina aur Prabhu dono ko bahot achha laga aur unhone daal diya.

Ye kabhi kabhi ideas aa jaate hai dimaag ke andar, to wo kar liya. Aur wo pant bhi stretch thi so wo pant bhi upar aa gayi aaram se.

har pant stretch wali nahi hoti aur ye pant thi kyuki uske baad action tha to wo step ho gaya tha, impromptu.

Anurag: fans ka dil jeetna hai is baar – kamaane ke liye nahi kar rahe ho aap picture release…

SK: Dil behlana hai fans ka. Divert karna hai unko corona se taaki wo ghar pe baithe, dekhe film ko aur ek motivation aa jaaye.

Wapas se ek energy aa jaaye, fans mein, logo mein. When you are going through a bad phase… kaafi logo se mujhe messages aaye ke why are you releasing it on Eid and abhi ruk jao kyuki abhi bahot saare tests ho rahe hai, and they are very right in that.

What about all those people, who want to get out of this misery, and those who want to get something in life to get out of this..

So we are releasing this film on Eid just for this reason ke mann behel jaaye, ek thoda sa motivation aa jaaye, ek topic change ho jaaye, and that is what we did with Bigg Boss also. Toh hum ye koshish kar rahe hai.

Agar unko pasand aa jaaye ye film, to nothing like it. Uske baad hum theatres mein bhi release kar denge jab ye haalat sab theek ho jaaye.

I don’t want anyone to say that Radhe release hui, fans chale gaye aur unko corona ho gaya to mujhe wo nahi chahiye.

To jab sab theek ho jayega aur jab governments allow kar denge theatres ko, tab us waqt hum release kar denge. This is my word to the theatre owners.

Srabanti: in this unprecedented time, I would like to know what your ray of hope? What will be your message to the fans to stay optimistic and be positive in a good way?

SK: It’s a very difficult time. You can only say things like ‘be strong’, ‘be safe’, ‘stay at home’ which you have heard thousand times.

But how does one do that if somebody at their house has got corona and somebody has lost a person with Corona.

Everyone needs to work to earn their daily bread and butter. Khane ko paise nahi hai to davaaiyo ke liye kaha se layenge paise?

I just think that ye lockdown ko follow karo taaki ye jaldi khul jaaye, cases kam ho jaaye, facilities humko milti rahe… like I have also had people suffer with Corona, and I have been getting lots of calls from my friends asking for medicines and injections… ICU bed chahiye, oxygen chahiye, and I have not been able to do anything.

Agar aapne kisi ko recommend kiya matlab aapne kisi aur ko nikala hai wo bed se, to aap zimmedaar hai.

Just to help somebody that you know, you are taking out somebody else’s mother or father or sister or brother… so that is something that I am not doing.

If there is a bed available, then I can do it but putting pressure ki ye nikalo wo nikalo aur ek bed de do, we are not doing any of that stuff because that is just not the right thing to do.

So if I am going through these problems, just imagine, what the common man must be going through right now.

I was at the farm, waha par khuli jagah hai, aur ye farm to coronavirus ke liye to liya nahi gaya tha, ye 30 saal pehle liya gaya tha.

My father belongs to kheti baadi then aur abhi humko ye kaam aa raha hai. Just imagine 4 or 5 people living together in one house, unki kya haalat ho rahi hogi.

That’s why it’s being said that stay at home, but it’s very difficult time. If someone passes away, we say be strong or this too shall pass, but that person knows that ye sab courtesy wali cheezein hai jo hum sab ek dusre ko bolte hain.

Everyone knows it and everyone is saying the same thing. Sabko unke haalaat pata hai… ki unke bachcho ke pass khan eke liye kuch hai nahi, wo suvidhaaye nahi hai, so wo karenge kya?

Humse ho sakta hai, wo hum kar rahe hain, aur jitna logo se ho sakta hai wo kar rahe hai, but I am very upset about this one thing people using this disease to make money.

Medicines black mein bik rahe hai… what the hell is that… oxygen tanks black mein bik rahe hai, dawaaiyaan jo ki 250-300 ki hai unki duplicate jaa rahi hai pachaas-pachaas hazaar mein… what kind of people are these people?

When you can save somebody’s life, and you are making money on this and you don’t give a damn whether somebody is dying… and this all comes back. It will come back to them