Salman Khan and Rashmika Mandanna, in an exclusive interview with India Today, spoke about their upcoming film, Sikandar. The film will hit the screens on March 30.
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00:00In the last 5 years, 49 cases have been pending.
00:04Whenever you see someone, you break someone's face and come home.
00:10Salman and Rashmika, this is truly exciting to come and speak to you about Sikandar.
00:14I watched the trailer, I absolutely loved it.
00:16It's always interesting when a trailer is out, no?
00:18You watch the trailer, then you have your own assumptions about what the film will be.
00:22You derive plot lines, you have your own conspiracy theories.
00:25And then you're like, this is what the trailer is and this is what the film gets.
00:28But one special moment from the trailer launch that stayed with me was the fact that Salim uncle had come for it.
00:33And that is a moment that I think is captured and it took our heart away.
00:37Just for the fact that him sitting there, looking at his son on stage, talking about a film.
00:41How important is it for you even today to show him films?
00:45Talk to me a bit about that Salman.
00:47So, we were having lunch together and he said, where are you going?
00:50He said, the trailer launch is good, I'm coming too.
00:55I was like, really?
00:56He said, yeah.
00:57And he came, sat in the car and he came for the trailer.
01:00And then I was shocked, him sitting behind but he wanted to sit there.
01:04So, he didn't want to sit in the front row, so he sat behind.
01:09He told me a very amazing thing.
01:12There was a billing problem of two big stars.
01:15One star I'll name, one star I'll not name.
01:19Yusuf Saab, Dilwale Kumar.
01:21They said that they want the first billing, they want this, they want that.
01:24You can name me anywhere, my fans will recognise me.
01:30So that.
01:31I said, why are you sitting in the back?
01:34He said, if you are sitting in the back, don't worry about me.
01:40That's it.
01:42Do you remember the first time you showed him a film of yours, like back in the day?
01:45Yeah, I showed him.
01:47He saw Bibi Ho Te Aisi.
01:51And when he saw Bibi Ho Te Aisi, he had a suggestion to make to the director.
01:58And the director said, no, no, no.
02:02I mean, very sweet man, Mr. Bihari.
02:05He said, when this is happening, the husband should not be at home.
02:08And he comes back, he realises that Farooq Shaikh has left the house.
02:15He said, no, no, that film is like this, that film is like this, it doesn't mean this.
02:19He said, no, no, Mr. Sareem, we respect you a lot, but we will make it like this.
02:22So my dad had seen the film.
02:25So he came to me and said, son, you are in the right hands.
02:32And I showed Suresh the film.
02:35And Suresh said, it's amazing, this film is going to do really well.
02:38It's a very good film.
02:39But why are your eyes looking so big?
02:42I said, how do you want my eyes to look?
02:44I said, is this okay?
02:46This?
02:47This?
02:48He said, this is fine.
02:49I said, your film is going to be like that.
02:50And that also didn't happen.
02:51I've got like big eyes, I don't know what to do here.
02:54So these are memories that the first time I'm sharing them with Tushar.
03:02So my father is a writer.
03:03What does your dad do, Tushar?
03:05He's an artist.
03:06He's a painter.
03:07He's a painter?
03:08He's a professional painter?
03:09No, he's doing it for the love of art.
03:11He's doing it for the love of art.
03:12And any other profession?
03:13I mean, since college?
03:14He used to be a journalist back in the day.
03:19This is the second generation of journalism going on in your family?
03:25Yes.
03:26That's really nice.
03:27So this is also our second generation.
03:29Your dad, mom, what did they do?
03:31My dad, he's into hotel management.
03:34He's into hotel management.
03:35Oh, hotel management.
03:36Okay, okay.
03:37And mom?
03:38Mom's a homemaker.
03:39Homemaker?
03:40Yes.
03:41Why did you make it so big?
03:42I don't know.
03:43How come?
03:44It's a question.
03:45I don't know.
03:46Is it luck?
03:47Is it destiny?
03:48Or hard work?
03:49I think.
03:50Right time, right place?
03:51I think so.
03:52It was destiny, actually.
03:53Destiny.
03:54I didn't want to get into the field.
03:55But somehow, things got me here and pushed me in this.
03:56But you had a tough time.
03:57Oh.
03:58Not so easy, is it?
03:59No.
04:00Working.
04:01Working-wise.
04:02Working.
04:03Working.
04:04Working.
04:05Working.
04:06Working.
04:07Working.
04:08Working.
04:09Working.
04:10Working-wise, working-wise, it's never so easy.
04:12Yeah.
04:13Everyone has to work really hard.
04:14And the ones who are from the industry, they've got to work 10 times harder.
04:17Yes.
04:18The ones who are out of the industry, they also have to work that same amount ofтАж
04:22The hardship has got to be the same or even more.
04:26So, when we came in the industry, all of us have worked really, really hard.
04:31And I see the younger generation from outside the industry, all the industry, my God, the way they are working.
04:39I mean, they are working on everything.
04:41They are working on their dancing, on the way they look, the way they dress, the way they talk, the way they walk.
04:46Obviously, their acting skills are on a different level altogether.
04:50So, yeah, it's becoming a lot tougher.
04:54But you know, he has mentioned such an important thing about how today everybody is so disciplined.
04:59What you are eating, how you are being clicked, where you are stepping out, what are you wearing, what are you saying in the press.
05:04It's almost like you have to be sort of treading on a treacherous slope, right?
05:09But then it's also sort of freeing to sort of be in this creative space.
05:12You are an actor, you have to be free.
05:14You can't be bound by certain things.
05:16Talk to me a bit about your journey in this space and then coming into Sikandar.
05:20You know, the first time a film review came out on you.
05:22Before we come into Sikandar, this interview is going to be over.
05:28First, let me dive right into Sikandar and then we'll do the rest of the talking.
05:33But, you know, first when I got the call, of course, it's a very surprising moment.
05:42Because, first of all, I didn't want to be an actor, somehow made it as an actor.
05:47Being able to reach the place where you get to work with SK.
05:53It's as in, it just feels like you've done something right, you know, as an actor.
05:59Because if you're not good with your work, you wouldn't get here.
06:03So, when I got this call, I knew that, okay, I want to do commercial films.
06:08But I wanted depth in commercial films.
06:11And I needed emotions in commercial films.
06:13And that's when it sort of attracts me to do the film.
06:18So, Sajith sir first actually made the call.
06:21And he said, okay, we have something really exciting for you.
06:25And I was like, okay.
06:26As in, I didn't know the entire star cast, nothing I knew.
06:29I was just like, okay, sir, let me take up on the narration.
06:32And I was in Vizag at the moment, shooting for something else.
06:35So, like, the first AD came, he narrated the story.
06:41And I fell in love with it.
06:43And I went to the next portion of it and asked, okay, what is the star cast looking like?
06:49And when they mentioned SK, I was like, how in the world did I get here?
06:54You know, the whole questioning myself.
06:57There's a lot of discipline, Rashmika.
06:59A lot of discipline with a lot of hard work.
07:01And nobody reaches any stage without that kind of effort that you put into your career.
07:08I've seen her working.
07:10She was shooting for Pushpa.
07:12And Pushpa was just going to release in a week, week and a half.
07:15And they were still shooting for a song in the climax of Pushpa.
07:19And obviously she had to be there.
07:21And then she was shooting with us for that, that Mahjabeen song.
07:26Zohra Zabeen.
07:28She was shooting for that and some scenes and everything.
07:32So, she was shooting with us in the nights.
07:34And then she was shooting in the days with them.
07:38So, 24 hours.
07:40We were there for about 12 days.
07:42Yeah.
07:4412 days, 24 hours.
07:46That she hadn't slept and she was not well.
07:49And she was still at it.
07:52And it's not that she slept in between the shots.
07:55It's just that she only got that time to sleep in the car.
08:00I don't even know if she slept in the car or not.
08:02And one day she packed up and she had to rehearse for their song.
08:07No, our song only.
08:09After packing up.
08:11After packing up, she was rehearsing for 2 hours.
08:14Wow.
08:15And then at 7 o'clock in the morning she went for that shift.
08:17So, it's hard work.
08:20But also, in the meantime,
08:22while all of the chaos was happening,
08:25you know, like,
08:27every time,
08:29SK would just be like,
08:31eat something, drink something,
08:33do you want something, can I get you something?
08:35So, like,
08:37you don't expect these things, right?
08:39These things are what makes you human.
08:42You know, it separates you from
08:45everyone else that you know of,
08:47or, you know, you've worked with.
08:49So, it's these things which drew me to SK
08:54because I was like, you know, for me,
08:57humans are more important than the actors that they are.
09:00Actors, you can, you know,
09:02it's creative field.
09:04And I respect that.
09:05You're basically saying that I'm your nicest co-star.
09:08Yes.
09:10Let's say that in many words.
09:12No, but these, you know,
09:14all these things are very important
09:16and these cannot be
09:18pretentious or it cannot be fake.
09:20It is who he is.
09:22And that was the most special of it.
09:25And honestly, those few days when it was crazy,
09:28this is how I survived.
09:30She told you this story.
09:32You were checking on her every five minutes.
09:34She was not well on set.
09:35And you were like, have you eaten? Are you okay?
09:37I quickly want to ask you,
09:38do you know two genres that you've never done till date?
09:40I've done pretty much every genre.
09:42I know two genres which you've not touched.
09:44Negative, I don't feel like.
09:45No, not negative.
09:46You've not done a biopic.
09:47Correct me if I'm wrong.
09:48Yes, I've not done a biopic.
09:49And you've not played an out-and-out superhero
09:51with a cape and going to a different galaxy,
09:53planets, lifting mountains.
09:55You've not done that yet.
09:56Yeah, I'm wearing Avengers t-shirts right now.
09:58They're tied up with being human.
10:01Marvel should be checking out this scene right away.
10:03Yeah, yeah.
10:04Soon to play one.
10:06No, no, no, no, no.
10:08I mean, the kind of films that we do
10:10and the roles that we do,
10:11we don't have to wear a cape.
10:12We're superheroes.
10:13All are Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Bengali.
10:20Every film industry, the hero is a superhero
10:24without wearing a cape.
10:26No, but I think that's what differentiates
10:29an Indian film from the rest of the world, you know?
10:33Like SK said, now I'm going to say SK.
10:38Yeah.
10:40But yeah, like not really do you need a cape.
10:44You don't have to really be in a vest.
10:46Every father, every elder brother,
10:48brothers and sisters, everyone.
10:50Every protector is a superhero.
10:51Yeah.
10:52For anybody who wants to work with him,
10:54for say there's a newcomer
10:56or there's an actress who's not worked with SK
10:58and if you had to meet her and give her one,
11:00not word of advice,
11:01advice is a very strange thing to say,
11:03but like how does one get him?
11:05Because he has his own discipline when he comes on set.
11:07He has his own take on the scene.
11:09He brings his own charisma and charm
11:11to everything that he does right.
11:12What's the way to sort of get that on screen?
11:15It's so tricky.
11:16You're all humans in the end of the day.
11:18I think I'll just tell them be real, man.
11:22Don't be pretentious or don't pretend
11:26to be someone that you're not.
11:27Just be real and people will see through.
11:29Right?
11:30Correct.
11:31There are stories that I come late
11:33and I'm not serious about my work,
11:35et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
11:37I've done a hundred and some plus films.
11:39I've done more films than anybody else has done
11:41apart from my senior actors.
11:43So it is not possible,
11:46not possible to do this kind of work
11:52if you're coming late and going early.
11:54Not possible at all.
11:56So there is a discipline,
11:57a hundred percent,
11:59but timings are such.
12:00Somebody starts working at six o'clock in the morning,
12:03I start working by 11, 11, 30, 12.
12:06I've got a lot of other work also to do,
12:09signing a lot of papers, et cetera, et cetera,
12:13and a lot of phone calls.
12:16I have to work out, do all that.
12:19And then you come and then you relax,
12:21you have a coffee, you understand the scene.
12:23And once you're there,
12:24I mean, I don't even go back to the van.
12:26I don't sit on it.
12:28They put a tent there,
12:30wherever they put the tent,
12:31the video village is there.
12:33I am there.
12:34And I completely agree with that
12:36because even I heard a lot of stories
12:38before working with SK
12:39and I am someone who believes only what I see.
12:44I don't listen to all these stories
12:47because I'm like, you know,
12:49it's not happened to me,
12:50so I can't stand by your words.
12:52But every day on set,
12:55SK has been there.
12:57He's given the cues on his OTS.
13:01He's always been there.
13:02So I was like,
13:03what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing
13:05is two different things.
13:06So this is a reality.
13:08I don't understand
13:09why there's so much commotion around.
13:13We have people, we have friends
13:15who would like to share these moments.
13:19Ki apne time se aata hai,
13:20apne time se jaata hai.
13:21For them, actually,
13:22it's giving me a compliment.
13:25But then what happens with that is
13:27you're scaring people away from working with me.
13:29You're giving that thing.
13:31He does not need to do anything in the film.
13:34He just stands.
13:35In concert, he just does his own shit.
13:37And his films touch on it.
13:40No, no, there's a lot of hard work.
13:42But it's just that hard work is not seen.
13:44I'm not trying to show anybody that.
13:46But mentally, constantly,
13:49my mind is working,
13:51especially on scenes and emotion.
13:53But it's happening inside.
13:55Yeah.
13:56It's happening inside.
13:57Because I'm a writer's son.
13:58And we're thinkers, basically.
14:00So all the hard work is in here.
14:03Jo physical karna hai,
14:05I've been doing action for the longest time.
14:08So yeh kick mar lo, wo kick mar lo.
14:10Wo sab aa jaata hai.
14:11And I've done all the back somersaults
14:14and the front somersaults
14:15and all the kicks and everything.
14:17I don't think that is required right now for me to do.
14:21So it's just that, I mean,
14:22suddenly if I do a back somersault, front somersault,
14:24it can be in a song, it can be in a scene.
14:26But action mein, I mean,
14:28it has to be more rustic and it has to be more manly.
14:32And I think that is what works.
14:34And I think that's what's working for every one of us right now.
14:38I mean, just imagine Akki, me or anyone.
14:41You know, suddenly it's back flip and front flip.
14:44All of us can do it.
14:46All of us can do it.
14:47It's not that you can't do it.
14:49All of us can do it.
14:50But the action is very man-man right now.
14:53It's very rustic.
14:54Gritty.
14:55So it cannot be...
14:57We've done all those 360 degree kicks and we've done all that stuff.
15:00If you can do it then, you can still do it now.
15:03But it's designed, the action,
15:07in very different manner right now.
15:12Sikandar is out on 30th of March.
15:14And what matters is all the sweat, all the blood,
15:17all the tears, all the hard work from the cameraman to the light man,
15:20to the director, to the DOP that has gone in making of a film.
15:23People don't realise that.
15:25It all depends on the mercy of the people,
15:29of the fans, of the families who want to go and see the film.
15:33It all depends on our fans, on our audiences.
15:36So I was just thinking today, have I ever prayed for a film to become a success?
15:41Right? I don't think so.
15:42I have never prayed for a film to be a hit.
15:46Really?
15:47Never, never.
15:48But I know that my mother must be doing that, my sisters must be doing that,
15:52my loved ones must be doing that.
15:54But me, that this film should be a big hit,
15:58this should be a big hit, that should be a big hit.
16:01I have never, ever, ever done that.
16:05Never done that.
16:07And whatever the result of the film is,
16:11if it's a hit, if it's a flop,
16:15but just that it should be a hit, the work should be,
16:19people should enjoy your work.
16:22I don't come in as saying that I am one of the best actors in the country.
16:26I don't do that.
16:28Apart from that, you can catch me for just about anything.
16:30You can catch me for just about anything, but let's catch him in the theatres.
16:35Yes.
16:36And catch you in the theatres on 30th of March.
16:38No, no, from the 30th of March.
16:40From the 30th of March and onwards and upwards.
16:43Yes.
16:44Thank you guys.