There’s no hidden side to Salman: Kabir Khan

Recently, his film ran into trouble with Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) who demanded the title to be changed. Religious groups targeting filmmakers is not a rarity anymore and Kabir agrees that religion is not an easy topic to address in the country. “We should start looking as religion as something we respect and enjoy irrespective of what religion it is. We should not let narrow-minded groups take over,” he says.

It’s only now that the film is ready for release that Kabir and his team are having to deal with such roadblocks. The making of the film was smooth sailing, Kabir reveals, even though a lot of it was shot in Kashmir. He admits that it took some convincing to get his actors and his team to shoot in the valley, but eventually they came around. “Kareena and Salman have never shot in Kashmir, so they were excited. For Kareena, it was emotional and nostalgic too as many actors from her family have shot in the valley and often when she was a child, she would visit the place with them.”

This is the second time Salman plays his leading man. While the actor has earned himself a reputation of being eccentric and therefore intriguing, Kabir feels he is actually an open book. “I’ve worked with Salman so much but now I realise that everybody knows Salman because he is such an open book. One remarkable quality about Salman is what you see is what you get. He wears his heart on his sleeve.”

He does want to work with the other Khans too. And his wish-list seems fairly long. “Shah Rukh, Aamir and Hrithik are definitely on my list. Also, Ranbir and Ranveer among the younger lot.”

Coming to his life off screen, Kabir is yet to cast his wife Mini Mathur in his films. “Mini and I have often discussed this. She has had a long and successful career. We are each other’s sounding board but we don’t believe in working together because we enjoy each other’s careers separately. It’s important to be each other’s support system but not necessarily be part of the same project. I feel if she’s in my film she cannot be an objective sounding board for me. Right now whenever I have a problem, she listens and gives me feedback.” Kabir doesn’t rule out the possibility entirely though. “We have done a couple of documentaries together. Plus, she doesn’t need me to cast her. I’m sure a lot of other people will be ready to cast her,” he adds with a smile.