'If you have a problem, get lost'
V S Srinivasan

Salman Khan's among the hottest hunks in town today. His Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya has done well and his Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai is doing average business. And all that success at the drop of a shirt. It works only if have a body worth the showing, though.

Like many of his counterparts, Salman too has his path to success pitted with flops. Most of us, of course would rather prefer to remember his good looks and charm in films like Maine Pyar Kiya, Baaghi, Sanam Bewafa, Saajan and Hum Aapke Hai Koun.

Meeting him is very easy, but pinning him down for an interview is like nailing down quicksilver. Especially you give him an uncomfortable question to answer, you see him squirming his way out with a great deal of talk that has little of substance.

We met him at Kamalistan Studios where he is shooting for Bandhan. He pretends he doesn't give a damn for journos but if you've known him long you can see through that" It's usually a way of putting you off your guard when he pulls a fast one on you.

The last time we met him, he offered us shilajit, assuring us it was more potent than Viagra. This time he knows we are better prepared. He smiles. "So how has it been? I won't trouble you this time," he smiles impishly, making you wonder if he's having you on again.

Salman, son of the famous Salim Khan, started off well enough with the Rajshris Biwi Ho To Aisi and then Maine Pyar Kiya. Just when people were beginning to note his good run, things went awry. But Salman wouldn't say die.

And as criticism mounted that he was all looks and brawn, he got a hit that smashed all box office records -- Hum Aapke Hai Koun. And then, in Rakesh Roshan's hitKaran Arjun, Salman finally took off his shirt....

It was during the making of Veergati that he actually began building his body. And the effort showed in Karan Arjun.

"I realised that a good body was an asset and hence I cast my shirt off for the film. When you have a good body, why shouldn't you show it off, man? Walking around bare-chested is not new for me. Even in my house, I never wear a shirt. You will always find me in just shorts.

"If I am driving or walking down the road, and if I feel hot, I just take off my shirt and carry on. I do not care what people say. If you have a problem, get lost."

One of the ways Khan keeps himself in trim is by training with his friend, Ali, the world kickboxing champion in the lightweight category "whenever he comes to India." And exertions over, he indulges himself in some photography, which he is quite good at. "I do indulge in taking pictures often," he says, adding reflectively and a little mysteriously, "Let us see how things work out for me..."

What about claims that he is arrogant? How does he counter those, we ask him. And he bristles.

"Call me arrogant or whatever you like. I am like this. I try and put forward myself very clearly. I am not scared of speaking the truth. I have been labelled arrogant by a section of the film press, especially those magazines which want me to run around them and accept whatever they write about me. If I call you names, if I write rubbish about your family, will you like it? It can spoil your relationships with your colleagues and family and also land you in a soup. Just because somebody wants to sell his magazine, does it mean I should allow them to make use of me?" He takes a deep breath.

"If I am so bad then why aren't people scared of me? Why do children run and come to me for autographs? Why don't parents hesitate to introduce me to their children? Do I behave like a real-life villain? The truth is that only those people are scared of me, who, when I was going through a low phase, wrote a lot of rubbish about me. I was rude to people because of their own mistakes. Most of them were journalists who indulged in yellow journalism, and I refused to give them interviews.

"Since I stopped entertaining them, they wrote a load of bullshit about me. Why should I take all that s**t? I am a man who has his principles and will adhere to it."

Didn't he have a hard time living up the standards of his famous family?

"I was always considered the black sheep of the family. But then, the situation is not the same anymore. I have done a lot of good work. I have given so many hits and the number of flops that I have given is much less than anyone else in the industry today. I am not here today to prove a point. I have already proved my worth by giving hits like Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Karan Arjun, apart from Judwaa and other films."

And the devastating low that came after his initial victories? How did he cope with that?

"I was neither disillusioned nor disheartened when my career took a turn for the worse. In fact, I accepted my fate as part of the job. Highs and lows are part of the profession... I just indulged myself and had a good time," he says.

"Sitting and regretting things is silly and idiotic. The past is gone. We have to concentrate on the present and get a better future. But that does not mean that you slog your ass out. You have to work hard, but then you have to enjoy what you are doing, so that you do not ruminate and cry over it if it does not work."

But then why did he sign on so many films indiscriminately?

"I assume that I must have signed a lot of wrong films. I was in a desperate hurry to make money as all youngsters are when they land in a goldmine. But then I had an ambition to build myself a house. That would give me a lot of security and I would have something to call my own. But I guess that it was a foolish thing to do. I am not regretting it, mind you. But rather than signing all those movies, if I had done a few star shows or waited for good offers to come by, I would not have suffered."

And if the films failed, Khan blames the makers.

"Most of these films had terrific scripts. Having seen my father write and being a bit of a writer myself, I knew that these films had the potential of being good hits, but then the makers sadly lacked direction. The directors could never convert the script into a good film. To do so, one needs a specific degree of aptitude, commitment and money. I don't like to name anyone since I could hurt many people, but I must sadly admit that many of the producers who were making these films lacked what was needed.

"I have gone on record about this before, but then we only had idiots messing up the scripts and producers more interested in saving money. You cannot get anything but flops in such cases."

He is doing very well in romantic roles -- Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Janam Samjha Karo and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam being some -- but he doesn't plan to get typecast. "I am doing very different roles in some forthcoming films too, films like Bandhan here and Dus (which has since been shelved)."

He's already looking forward to marriage to Somy Ali. But the date hasn't been fixed, he says.

"Soon, very soon! I will tell you all when I do it."

Khan has, meanwhile, also diverted his energies into another profession. His upcoming chain of restaurants, Indian Talkies, is to open its doors in the next few months. The dishes there are to be named after all the films he has worked in (maybe we can scratch the flops), and he promises clients that he will make personal appearances to whet their appetite for glamour too.

And then he lets his imagination really go. "Soon, New York, Hong Kong and Australia will have an opportunity to experience the exotic food of India," he says. And here he's discussing the Bollywood variety. "The concept is doing well. We promoted it a lot during my shows abroad," he smiles.

But he offers nothing on his plans to turn director, making one wonder if he plans to turn full-time businessman. No reply again. A subtle suggestion may be that it's time to leave.

We do.

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