Ali Abbas Zafar is perhaps the youngest director that Salman Khan has worked with after crossing 40. Ali, whose earlier credits include the Mere Brother Ki Dulhan and the ’70s style action flick Gunday, says he couldn’t believe it when Salman agreed to do Sultan with him.
“I went to him for a narration. He heard me for 30 minutes and said it sounded good. After that everything fell into place,” says Ali, recalling with pleasure that treasured experience of making a film about a wrestler’s journey with Salman Khan who transformed himself emotionally and physically to play the character.
Says Ali, “It’s a sporty formula we’ve seen work so well in Raging Bull and the Rocky series. That’s the feeling we’ve tried to create in Sultan.”
Speaking of his fondness for a wrestling film Ali reveals, “I love outdoor sports. Wrestling is very Indian. And unlike boxing it’s not about hurting your opponent. It’s not bloodied sport. It’s about felling your opponent through technique.”
Salman was all there for the part, and with reason. Ali reveals, “You see, Salman’s family is no stranger to wrestling. Some of Salim saab’s cousins in his hometown Indore were wrestlers. As a child, Salman watched them in the akhada. So he knows the wrestlers’ moves.”
Ali brightens up at the mention of Salman’s family. “For the entire shooting spell of Sultan Salim saab and Salman’s family adopted me as one of their own. I could come and go as and how I wanted in their home. Salman is like an elder brother. He guided me.”
