Kabir Khan reveals Salman Khan convinced Katrina Kaif to sign New York, says, “He said, ‘aankh band karke picture sign kar lo'”

Filmmaker Kabir Khan has been the man behind several much-loved films like New York, Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and 83. The director, in a recent chat, got candid about many things including wanting to cast Katrina Kaif in New York and Salman Khan playing a part in her saying yes to it.  

Kabir Khan on Salman Khan convincing Katrina Kaif to do New York

While interacting with Mashbale India, Kabir spoke about casting Katrina in New York. The director said, “When Katrina came in, this was going to be her first film with Yash Raj, so she came and I think, she was a little disappointed by the film when she heard it. She was wanting to hear maybe a love story, song and dance, and she was like ‘What kind of film is this?’” He added that during the production of Kabul Express, he had a chance encounter with Salman and this meeting helped in getting Kaif onboard.

Talking about Salman Khan convincing Katrina Kaif to say yes to New York, Kabir Khan said, “Those days, she was seeing Salman. Salman asked her ‘how was the meeting?’ She said, ‘There is a new filmmaker who has made one film and he offered me a film. It’s interesting but I don’t know.’ Salman asked, ‘Who is the filmmaker?’ so she said, ‘There’s this guy called Kabir Khan.’ So apparently, Salman said ‘Aankh band karke picture sign kar lo, I have met the boy’ (sign the film with your eyes closed, I have met the boy). It’s so sweet that he remembered that one meeting.”

Kabir Khan on working with Katrina Kaif

During the same conversation, Kabir revealed that the team spent 100 days shooting the film in New York. Recalling the experience of working with Katrina, he said, “For a long time, when she came on the set, she kept calling me sir. I finally had to say ‘yaar, your boyfriend is four years older than me, please don’t call me sir.'” He also stated that he would accidentally address Katrina as Kareena. He said, “For the first 20 days, I would call her Kareena and then slowly when we became friends, I became used to Katrina. Then during Bajrangi Bhaijaan, for a long time, I called Kareena, Katrina.”

About the film

Directed by Kabir Khan and produced by Aditya Chopra under Yash Raj Films, the thriller film starred Katrina, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan in pivotal roles. It follows three friends studying in a prestigious college in the city and how their carefree lives change following the September 11 attacks. It was a commercial success and became the sixth-highest-grossing Hindi film of 2009.

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