EXCLUSIVE: Kabir Bedi reveals Salman Khan & Ayesha Jhulka’s romantic songs dominated Kurbaan; admits, “He increased the popularity of the film”

Kabir Bedi is one of India’s most famous international actors. His career spans from Bollywood to Hollywood and Europe, in films, television, theatre, and radio. He is best known for appearing as the main villain’s henchman, Gobinda, in the James Bond movie Octopussy and as Sandokan in the mega-hit TV series broadcast across Europe and most of the Spanish-speaking world. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Bubble, Kabir Bedi revealed that Salman Khan and Ayesh Jhulka’s romantic tracks dominated Kurbaan.

Kabir Bedi admits Salman Khan popularised Kurbaan

Talking about working alongside Salman Khan in Kurbaan, Kabir Bedi said, “It so happened that the producer of Kurbaan came to me, and said, ‘We have a story,’ I replied, ‘Fantastic’. They said there are two giants, you and Sunil Dutt who are competing. However, we need a boy and a girl for the romantic song. So I said, ‘Salim sahab’s son, Salman Khan, has just started doing films and seems to be a good actor as well.’ I suggested they approach Salman for the role.“

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The actor added, “Then the team went to Salman for the role, and Ayesha Jhulka was signed as well. And then the filming started. The filming took a while and during that time 4 films of Salman became superhit, one after the other. This resulted in his role being increased from just filming a song to a meatier part. A couple more songs were then added in Kurbaan.”

Bedi continued, “The main story was of Dutt sahab and mine. Owing to Salman’s growing popularity, our footage planned for the movie had to be reduced and the duration of songs became longer. The popularity of the film increased because of Salman and Ayesha’s love songs and they dominated the film. But it wasn’t Salman’s fault, it was the producer’s fault. Salman is one of the most generous actors in this industry. He is an actor with a big heart and no one knows how many people he has helped. Salman is an amazing man, and I have the greatest love and respect for him. He isn’t just a good actor, a great star but a wonderful man too.”

Watch the full interview

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Kabir Bedi says ‘our process of filmmaking is slightly unprofessional’ as he opens up about the differences between Bollywood, Hollywood & South Indian cinemas