Kabir Khan recalls he had a lot of tussle with Salman Khan during 'Ek Tha Tiger' and that's why he eventually cast him in 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan'

Time of India

2 days ago

Kabir Khan
recently shared that after the massive success of 'Ek Tha Tiger', there was immense pressure on him as well as
Salman Khan
, with fans eagerly pushing for a sequel. However, instead of the sequel to that, he made '
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
' which marked the turning point Salman Khan's career.
It revealed a deeply emotional and vulnerable side that the viewers resonated with. Filmmaker Kabir Khan deserves most of the credit for this remarkable portrayal because he went to cast Salman in a part that was far different from the action-packed, fantastical roles the actor was typically associated with.
Recently Kabir Khan opened up about how he came to cast Salman in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and how their evolving relationship helped shape the film during a chat with Indian Express.
Speaking candidly during the session, he shared, 'In Ek Tha Tiger, I had a lot of tussle with Salman, because at that time, I'd only done two films, and he was the reigning superstar of the industry. But in that tussle, I began to understand him. I spent a lot of time with him and realised that he feels very strongly about certain issues, like the composite culture of India, about secularism… And I told him, 'But you've never articulated this on the platform where you're practically a demigod.
Why is that?''
Kabir Khan also stated that he was hesitant to pursue sequels, which is the industry standard, despite 'Ek Tha Tiger's' enormous success. 'After creating Ek Tha Tiger, there was immense pressure to make another Tiger. That's the conventional wisdom in our industry: you make a hit film, you have to make another hit film. Even after New York, people told me to make a sequel. And I had to say, 'Have you seen the film? I shot everybody dead, how am I supposed to make a sequel?' I didn't want to go down that route.
I didn't want to do a Tiger 2. I'd had my fun with action and thought, 'Okay, that's enough. I want to move on.''
Instead of the sequel, Kabir Khan approached Salman Khan with a completely different film, that was the polar opposite of their previous collaboration. 'So I took this new story to Salman, knowing it was the complete antithesis of what he was at that point, and of what he and I had created with this super-character called Tiger.
But he jumped at it, because it really hit home. He said, 'You know what, we'll produce this.
' And it became his first production. There was no action. In fact, he's only being beaten up, and that too by Pakistani policemen, which is completely taboo.'
In addition, Kabir considered how Bajrangi Bhaijaan allowed him to achieve a lifelong dream as a director making the move from documentaries to mainstream movies. 'In a sense, it brought together what I had always been trying to do.
When I moved from documentaries to mainstream cinema, I knew I wanted to use the format of mainstream cinema, but still have a political base — with the politics in the layers beneath. And I always looked for that balance.
'
According to the reports, it was revealed that Salman Khan recently met with Kabir Khan to explore the possibility of reuniting for a future project, though the details are still in the early stages.
Meanwhile on the work front, Salman Khan was last seen the movie, 'Sikandar', which was released on Eid.