of Ramzan. Biwi No.1 did well despite the cricket World
Cup. But in 2006, my film Jaan-e-Man and Shah Rukh
Khan’s Don released together on Diwali. And we all
went to watch Don. Festivals are the perfecttime for a
release because families can watch it together.” He says
he prefers romantic films over actioners. He doesn’t use
body doubles and finds it a bit tedious to do action sequences during late hours. He’s currently training hard
for Sultan, for which he has put on weight. Incidentally,
both Sultan and Aamir Khan’s Dangal revolve around
wrestling but Salman insists they are two different films.
“Ours is a love story of a wrestler while Dangal is the story of a father. I’m training six-seven hours every day. It’s
extremely strenuous and draining. I’ve to gain muscle
and body mass for the role.” He’s more of a night person
and finds it tough to get up early. He says it was so even
when he was a boarding student in Gwalior’s prestigious
Scindia School. “There we had the lights out at 9:30 pm
and had to wake up by 4:45 am. But even then, a couple
of friends and I’d go to sleep by 3 am. That cycle has
stayed with me. But I use my time constructively. I’m either working out or watching a film. I go to sleep towards
the morning. My body clock starts ticking only during the
latter half of the day. I put in an hour of cardio along with
my workout. My body is like a diesel engine. It takes time
to warm up.” He maintains he’s a workaholic and hasn’t
taken a holiday in years. “My entire life is a holiday. I
enjoy my work. I work even on weekends. There was a
time when I had no work but today so many people earn
their daily wages through me. That motivates me to get
up every day and go to work.” He doesn’t like to travel
outdoors and prefers that his directors shoot in Mumbai
itself, more so in studios, where crowd control isn’t a
worry. “I don’t want someone to get hurt in a stampede
just because they have come to watch me shooting. We
shot the key portions of PRDP on a set in Karjat because
shooting in real locations would have inconvenienced
people. We did our Ganpati visarjan in an artificial pond
this time because I realised the crowd was getting out of
hand on Bandstand. Once, I was travelling near Lilavati
Hospital and there was a traffic jam. A boy stepped out
of an ambulance saying his dad has passed away and
they needed to move. I felt bad and resolved to avoid
such situations in the future.” Salman waxes philosophical and says one thing he seeks over everything else is
a clear conscience. “Sometimes we do things believing
no one is looking. It’s the worst thing to do. If no one is
looking, doesn’t mean that you’ve got a license to do
wrong. That’s where your zameer (conscience) comes
into play and tells you that yeh galat hai bhai. Don’t ever
go against your conscience.” Despite being the Midas
man at the box-office, in real life Salman believes less is
more. He says he doesn’t splurge on clothes or shoes. “I
love my old shoes and old clothes. I don’t like to spend
big money and keep buying things every single day. I
like using the stuff I have. Jo saamne dikhta hai wohi
pahan leta hoon. If you’re physically fit you can wear
anything.” He refuses to carry the superstar halo. “Peo-
C OVER STORY
ple have hyped my image. To be honest, ek sadharan
aadmi ko logon ne sar pe chadha diya hai (people have
put an ordinary man on a pedestal). It’s just that they like
the kind of films I do. I’ve just been lucky.” As a parting
shot, we ask him how it feels to turn 50. He smiles saying, “I’m turning 27. I believe 27 is the perfect age...”
27 | BOOM