Director Kabir Khan Talks About SRK and His New Film ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’

Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan has been in the news a lot of recent, whether it be because of protests by Right-Wing Hindu religious factions complaining about the supposed anti-Hindu messages in the film, or Salman, its star, wanting to show the film to seemingly everyone in India named Khan. The film has had more than its share of press and looks like it will become another hit for Big Daddy Khan. It will release July 17.

Kabir Khan, no relation to Salman, sat down with Bollywood Life to talk about the film and its star. The most interesting thing about the interview was when the talk turned to box office expectations of the film. It is a huge film and expectations are high, but for Kabir Khan crossing the 300 crore will not make, break or even define Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

To quote Kabir:

"That is just trade talk and they need to do it as this a big film, a superstar film and it is one of the biggest films releasing this year, so of course people will talk. Everybody today talks about numbers and these numbers become a fascination for the audience and our trade. Every time a superstar film comes up, whether it’s Salman or Shah Rukh or Aamir’s film, everybody talks about numbers. I do not pay too much attention to that, I think beyond a point numbers should not define a film. Yes, a film should be successful and should make money, but numbers alone cannot define a film. Let’s see what happens. If it does Rs. 300 crores, then it’s great; but that is not the benchmark that I have in my mind.”

The film explores the Indo-Pakistani relationship and their co-existence. This co-existence fascinates the director. He separates the relationship in two distinct units, personal and political and says it is often the political that complicates life unnecessarily.

As for lead actor Salman Khan, this is Kabir’s second film with Salman, whom Kabir described this way:

“He is a transparent man, he is what you see and there are no hidden agendas or complexes. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he says what he feels and he is an extremely warm & affectionate person. Once he is your friend he will go to any length to do things for you. He is a remarkable person.”