"Katrina Is The Best Thing In Ek Tha Tiger": Salman Khan

Faridoon Shahryar (FS): Rarely it happens that a film carries such a tremendous hype as ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ is doing right now and we have with us Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Huge pleasure to have you on Bollywood Hungama!

Salman Khan (SK): Thank you buddy!

Katrina Kaif (KK): Thank you!

FS: Enjoying all the tremendous hype that the film is carrying since the first teaser came out?

SK: (to Katrina) You start!

KK: Me? Ok. It’s been passed to me. I was missing in the first trailer which just showed Salman’s character and what the film is. Some people didn’t know how to react to it initially but from there only, people just got excited for the film. They felt that it was something slightly different but at the same time it still had all the ingredients of what they were expecting from the film. Then, when the theatrical trailer released, Salman right away said that he really liked it. I had apprehensions about few shots but Salman said that it’s really good. The response to the trailer was indeed phenomenal.

FS: You’ve become a mass blockbuster star in many ways. But when this promo came out, it indicated that ‘iske andar kuch different hai’…

SK: You know, first of all, main mass aur class mein bilkul believe nahi karta hoon. Main sirf ek cheez mein believe karta hoon ki either you can afford a multiplex theatre or you can’t. And now, most of the multiplex audiences are going to single-screen theatre for no rhyme or reason to watch a film when they can easily afford to go and watch in a multiplex. So everybody is equal. Kisi ke pass bahut zyaada paise hote hai. They want to see the film in an environment where they can take their family along. Some people want to go for a film with their friends in a place where they can have lots of fun…guy kind of fun you know!

FS: When you talk of Kabir Khan, he has different sort of sensibilities, unlike the directors you have worked in the past…

SK: Uske liye Main Hoon Na! Uske liye main hoon na, ke itni sensible film na banane ke liye.

FS: Sensibility in the sense that he has a certain point of view as well…

SK: Jaise ki aap promo ki baat karte hai, jo cheez fatt se acchi dikh jaati hai na first glance mein, woh chalni hi chalni hai. I was very proud when I saw the promo. Aur aisa nahi ki jitna promo ke andar hai, utna hi picture ke andar hai. Woh promo se hi aapko pata chal jaata hai ki ye to sirf promo hai bhaiyya. Iske baad ab bahut hai aur kuch jo aane waala hai!

FS: You have shot in Cuba, Iraq and Dublin. No Hindi film has been shot in Cuba till now…

SK: All these locations look really interesting on screen. These are really beautiful places to go for honeymoon or with your family, not to shoot or film action scenes in Mardin (Turkey), Cuba or Dublin. Hamara trip to bummer hi nikla na! Hum gaye wahaan par aur action hi action kar ke aaye aur romance karne ke to mauka hi nahi mila wahaan par!

FS: Iraq ke border pe bhi shoot kiya hai aapne…

SK: Haan, wohi, Mardin and yeah, it was good.

FS: (to Katrina) In your last film, ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’, your performance was very nice and as an actress, you’ve been coming on to on your own. So what do we see from Katrina Kaif in ‘Ek Tha Tiger’? Even In ‘New York’, also made by Kabir, you had a very fine performance…

SK: Don’t be modest, I am telling you!

KK: Me?

SK: Yeah…she’s the best thing in the film!

KK: Yeah, I am outstanding in the film! Kabir is a really, really, really, really nice person!

SK: 3 really nahi, ek really nice hai!

KK: Ok…so, Kabir is a really nice person (laughs).

FS: But he’s saying wonderful things about you. Recently he said that you are the only tiger in the industry!

KK: Hey, you are not letting me answer my question!

FS: Ji ji, please please!

KK: He (Salman) is really, really, really nice and Kabir is really nice, just nice!

SK: Actually, nice…

KK: Nice, just nice! And ‘New York’ was really a good film and I think he did a great job and I had a really good time. So when he told me about ‘Ek Tha Tiger’, I was right away excited and I said yes at that time. As to what can one expect from the film, you do your work as an actor. You do it as well as you can, hoping that the audiences like it.

SK: Kabir Khan ka career start hota hai iss film se! Unhone pehle jo film banayi thi, woh acchi  banayi hogi but compared to this film, they are nothing. To unka career graph yahaan se shuru hota hai. Problem to unko yeh hogi ki iske baad woh kya banaye.

FS: Salim saab has liked the film a lot apparently…

SK: Yeah he’s liked the film a lot.

FS: And technically, the film is looking brilliant as well…

SK: Yeah it’s a well-shot and very slick film. Linear film hai. Ek deesha mein jaati hai. Jaise bandook se swiftly goli nikalti hai, ussi type ki yeh film jo ek baar chutti hai, to ekdum target mein jaa ke hit karti hai.

FS: Is ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ releasing in Pakistan? Not only you but even Katrina has a tremendous fan following in Pakistan…

SK: Ab jab ye picture censor hogi, tab ye decide karenge…

FS: I think aaj baithne waale the Censor Board film dekhne ke liye…

SK: Haan. To jab woh picture dekhenge, tab decide karenge aur unko aisa lagta hai ki film mein itna bhi unke khilaaf kuch hai, to woh beshak release naa karein. Yeh daava hai hamara. Duniyabhar mein jo hamare fans hai, unke liye film banayi hai humne. Ek pyaar mohabbat ki kahani banaayi hai. Halaaki mera character RAW agent hai, lekin aisi koi baat nahin jo ke kisi dusre mulk ko negatively dikhaya hoga.

FS: How has been the experience of playing Zoya for you?

KK: The experience of whole film actually was very interesting. A very interesting team came together – YRF, Salman’s first film with them, Kabir Khan, the way he works, the way Salman works. I’ve known the team so for me, it was a comfort level. I liked the script and I thought it was a really interesting idea and the way Kabir had visualized the film. Everything that he does has a certain edge to it. It’s an incredible film and I am really proud of it! Some of the sequences in the film, in my opinion, are one of the best that I have seen in the last few years.

FS: In the film, you tell Ranvir Shorey that ‘Zoya ko patana zaroori hai mission ke liye’. Could you talk about that sequence?

SK: I am an undercover RAW agent in the film and I figure out that she could perhaps help me get to my goal. That is the reason why I say that ‘isko patana bahut zaroori hai’. Actually, woh double meaning mein bhi aata hai!