Salman on how ‘Antim’ director Mahesh Manjrekar inspired his ‘Chulbul Pandey’ role

New Delhi: It is always celebration time whenever Salman Khan comes on screen as fans gather in large numbers to see their ‘bhaijaan’ in action and the same happened with his latest release ‘Antim: The Final Truth’.

The superstar is ecstatic with the kind of love the entire team has got and even revealed a small secret about the characters he has played over the years.

Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, ‘Antim: The Final Truth’ released on November 26. It saw Salman pitted against his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma. He is happy with all the love being showered on him and Aayush.

“It feels amazing, thank you. 26th of November was a really good day for us because everybody was appreciated. Aayush was really really appreciated so we feel very happy. We feel very honoured. Everyone has loved the film. Mr Manjrekar has done a kickass job in the film,” said Salman during a chat with IANS.

“Even me, I have done quite okay,” added the actor followed with his signature innocent laughter.

Soaking in all the love and appreciation, Salman also raised concerns after he saw videos of fans bursting crackers inside theatres and showering posters with milk.

Talking about the incident, the actor, who was named in the Forbes 2018 list of Top-Paid 100 Celebrity Entertainers in the world, said: “If they had done this outside it was okay but they did this inside in excitement, it could’ve been fatal. People go into a theatre to have fun and enjoy is all good… I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. This will never happen, they (fans) promised me.

“It’s overwhelming to see fans shower their love. But don’t waste milk on posters, I will love it if you donate that milk to needy kids around,” he said.

The 55-year-old star, who is the eldest son of veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, made his acting debut in 1988 with ‘Biwi Ho To Aisi’. Ever since then, Salman has always given memorable characters such as ‘Prem’, ‘Raja’, ‘Karan’, ‘Chulbul’, ‘Radhe Mohan’, ‘Radhe/Rajveer Shekhawat’, ‘Sameer’, and ‘Tiger’ among many others. The latest being a Sikh police officer named ‘Rajveer Singh’ in ‘Antim: The Final Truth’.

How does he manage to up his own game with every character he plays?

“You need to give it your best. You need to always give it your 100 per cent and that is what you try and do all the time. This time I had Mahesh with me. He himself is an outstanding actor.”

Salman revealed that iconic character ‘Chulbul Pandey’ from the ‘Dabangg’ franchise was actually inspired by Mahesh’s character ‘Senior Inspector Daulat R. Talpade’ from the 2009 film ‘Wanted’.

“Jo mera ‘Dabangg’ ka character hai (my ‘Dabangg’ character’) that was inspired by his character from ‘Wanted’ it was just that I didn’t touch the heroine (laughed)… I was inspired by the way he played his character in ‘Wanted’… I have taken bits of that in ‘Chulbul’,” said Salman, who in the third instalment of ‘Dabangg’ was paired opposite Mahesh’s daughter Saiee Manjrekar.

Salman, who also promotes humanitarian causes through his charity Being Human Foundation, then spoke about how he not only has a strong bond with Mahesh, but has a strong friendship with his entire family.

“Friendship is not just with Mahesh but with his whole family. So, his daughter was launched by me. It’s all good and we have been friends for the longest time,” said the actor, who has starred in some of the highest yearly grossers.

He added: “When we decided to do this film, it was very difficult. The whole journey was very difficult. It was like ‘bro, will you do this film?’ (and I said) ‘yes’ and it was done… And then it was done.”

(IANS)