Sajid Khan says Bollywood only has lead actors, not heroes: ‘Hero ke mayne sirf South mein hain'

Hindustan Times

10-05-2025

Filmmaker Sajid Khan, known for making films like Heyy Babyy, Housefull, Himmatwala, Hamshakals and more, recently appeared in a conversation with comedian Bharti Singh and her husband, writer Haarsh Limbachiyaa on their YouTube channel Bharti TV. During the chat, he spoke about how there are no longer 'heroes' in Bollywood—just lead actors. (Also Read: Exclusive| Sajid Khan: I have thought of ending my life many times in the last six years)
While discussing the lifestyle of heroes in earlier times, Sajid said they lived a luxurious and fun life. He then explained why there are no real heroes in Bollywood today and said, "Hero nahi hai aaj ki date mein. Leads hain. Hero bhut kum hote hain. Jo pehle heroes the ab leads hain. Ab koi bhi picture kar sakta hai. Because hero ki mayne bhut kum hote hain. Hero ke mayne sirf South mein bacche hain. Tabhi unki entry dhamakedaar hoti hai. Isliye voh film mein kabhi kuch aisa step nahi utha sakte jo galat hoga society ke liye kyunki voh hero hai. That's why we haven't ever heard the word superlead, but superhero. Hero bhut kum bache hain humare pass (There are no heroes in today's time. There are leads. Heroes are very few. The ones who used to be heroes are now just leads. Nowadays, anyone can do a film because the value of a hero has diminished. The concept of a hero only really remains in the South. That's why their entry is so grand. That's also why they can never take a step in a film that would be wrong for society, because they are heroes. That's why we've never heard the term 'super-lead', only 'superhero'. We have very few real heroes left with us)."
He further explained that actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Jeetendra and Mithun Chakraborty were heroes, even when they occasionally played negative or offbeat characters. He called them true crowd-pullers.
When Bharti mentioned how today's actors focus on gym workouts for a good physique, Sajid said, "Earlier heroes didn't need a good body. Vinod Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan didn't have a good physique, but the anger was in their eyes—the action was in the eyes, not in the thighs. Salman Khan brought the craze of bodybuilding to Bollywood. People were shocked to see his six-pack abs in Maine Pyaar Kiya's first poster. But he didn't become a hero because of the six-pack abs. Now it has become common. Now it's mandatory to have six-packs. Intensity should be in the eyes."
He went on to give examples of actors like Ranbir Kapoor, who trained extensively to build a certain physique for Animal. However, he added that even if Ranbir hadn't done so, the film would still have been a hit because the anger needed for the role was in his eyes. He also cited Sunny Deol's physique in Gadar 2 as a 'desi body'—not gym-sculpted, but still powerful and convincing in action scenes.
Sajid is a popular filmmaker and the brother of filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan. He made his directorial debut with the 2006 film Darna Zaroori Hai, which featured Amitabh Bachchan, Suniel Shetty, Anil Kapoor and others. He then delivered three back-to-back hits with Heyy Babyy (2007), his first full-length film, Housefull and Housefull 2. However, his next two films—Himmatwala and Hamshakals—performed poorly at the box office. Since then, he has been away from direction. He was last seen as a participant in Salman Khan's reality show Bigg Boss 16.