Kabir Khan: Salman Khan living example of secularism

Filmmaker Kabir Khan on Monday said he chose to work with superstar Salman Khan in “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” because of his secular-leaning and he wanted to tell the film’s story from his point of view.

“After ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, I started spending a lot of time with Salman. One thing that I realized that he feels very strongly about few issues, especially how secularism is perceived in India,” Kabir said here on the sidelines of the All Light Indian International Film Festival.

Addressing a large gathering in an interactive session, Kabir said: “Salman is a living example of secularism. When you go to his house and see the way he and his family lives, you’ll come to the conclusion that there can’t be a more secular person than him.”

Through the film, Kabir wanted to show the world the secular side of Salman.

“Salman’s secular feeling has never been articulated in the right way. He’s a superstar and when he says millions will listen. Around this time, I was working on the story of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, and I felt he would fit the bill,” he said.

About working with Salman, the “Kabul Express” director said they had differences too.

“We had a lot of clashes when we worked on ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ because both of us came from two different worlds. It’s only towards the end of the film we started to understand each other and it resulted in the commercial success of the film,” he said.

While working on “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, Salman however, submitted his stardom.

“When I decided to narrate the story, I decided I’ll read his body language. When he heard the story, he literally jumped with excitement. He asked me to make the film the way I want it and absolutely without any compromises. He asked me protect the story from him and the studios,” he added.

Inputs by IANS