Ali Abbas Zafar: Salman was not laid back during ‘Sultan’

Salman Khan is often known for his laid back and relaxed attitude but surprisingly director Ali Abbas Zafar says the superstar was completely dedicated while working on ‘Sultan’.

“He (Salman) was not laid back at all. On paper he knew he can’t afford to be laid back as he had to work hard for this film as he is racing against a steam engine…In wrestling, weight goes up and down. Physically, this film has been very challenging,” Ali told PTI.

Even after going through the grueling training sessions and workouts in the gym, according to Ali, the 50-year-old actor never complained.

“Only on hard days he used to say can I have an ice cream… But the day he was done he had four ice creams,” Ali added.

The ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ star had to alter his weight from 100 kgs and then as per the instructions of Ali, he came down to 90 kgs and then to 82 kgs.

“At the age of 50 to do all this within six to eight months takes a lot of hard work. Even when he was not working on sets he had to train for four hours. This is phenomenal for an actor enjoying such stardom,” he said.

Apparently ‘Sultan’ is the first sports film that Salman has done in his career.

“This is Salman’s first sports film and you do make some changes keeping his personality in mind. We wanted to make ‘Sultan’ with him only. Whatever changes happened, it happened on the sets not on script level,” he said. [sic]

“His understanding and experience helped us to make a better film. He did small changes and not the big things,” he added.

The ‘Dabangg’ Khan loves to flaunt his chiseled body on screen and ‘Sultan’ required him to wear “langots”, considering the fact that he plays a wrestler.

The ‘Gunday’ helmer reveals that Salman was initially shy to wear a langot.

“He is a very shy guy. He is very conscious about his body. He is the poster boy for everyone in the gym. Salman Khan is the bible of body building,” he added.

When Ali narrated the story to Salman he knew in 40-50 percent of the film he will be seen in langot.

“He (Salman) had to wear it as it is the demand of the character. If you are a wrestler you have to wear it and get into the mud pit,” he said.

“He was avoiding wearing it for the longest time. We asked the coach to tell him to wear langot… He got convinced that his guru has told him to do so,” he added.

On the day of beginning the shoot, Salman was not willing to wear langot as there were 6,000 people.

“He (Salman) was feeling shy to come out. I convinced him. I told everyone on the sets to keep quiet. Then later he was feeling so hot that he liked wearing the langot,” Ali said.

“It (scene) has come out well he looks good in it. His body type is of a wrestler. It’s just the mental block that he had but when he saw the shot (with langot) he joked about it saying he is the first male actor to wear a bikini,” he added.

Also starring Anushka Sharma in the lead, ‘Sultan’ produced by Yash Raj Films releases this Eid.

Inputs from PTI

Also Read: KARAN JOHAR AND AJAY DEVGN IN A RACE TO GET THEIR TRAILERS ATTACHED TO ‘SULTAN’?

Amod Pandit

Quiet, resonant, and creative, he can be seen immersed in his own world, and puts in his heart and soul into the one passion that he has, Bollywood. His line for survival? Feel happy to be a part of it.