Ali Abbas Zafar’s Shocking Statement On Salman Khan : Exclusive Interview

“Ali Abbas Zafar: “Salman Khan Has the Pressure of Tubelight’s Failure, NOT ME”

We are caught up with Salman Khan and Katrina Khan starrer Tiger Zinda Hai’s Director Ali Abbas Zafar for a candid chitchat and Yes! He has opened his heart out! Excerpts from the tête-à-tête.

Ali Abbas Zafar is all set to be back after the movie Sultan (2016) with Tiger Zinda Hai. The hype around Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan has been pretty intense. Is the film going to live up to the expectations set by the prequel Ek Tha Tiger? Let’s check what the Director says.

After the movie Sultan, what kind of pressure are you facing?

Too much of pressure. This is a big budget movie. The hype around the film is quite phenomenal. This is my second film with Salman Khan and as everyone can understand, it’s a sequel. So, there are a lot of reasons to feel pressurized, however, I am not taking one.

Salman Khan’s last film Tubelight hasn’t performed well in the box office, do you feel the pressure of it?

I do not think that I have the pressure. Well, Salman has that pressure. However, the most important thing is that as a filmmaker, you make the film that you believe in. Sometimes, films work and at times they don’t. As an actor, they have just signed in the film and the project as they have lots of offers around them. So, I think the only pressure I have is the kind of excitement Tiger Zinda Hai has with its audience when the film releases in the box office. If the film performs well, certainly it’s going to make money.

You were with Salman Khan for TZH when he came to know that Tubelight wasn’t doing well. What was his reaction?

We didn’t speak about it then, but he always stood by the film. He was working with same zeal and enthusiasm for Tiger Zinda Hai. We all are humans. We all have to go through thick and thins of life. Quite obvious, when we are putting hard work and do not the effective result, definitely it’s going to affect you. More than that, several incidents he has been through in his personal and professional life, his ups and downs, I do not think this matters to him any longer.

What do you mean by the title Zinda Hai? Is it the same story that’s going to portray or it’s a new story?

It’s the same story taking a leap of 8 years from the first part, especially based on real events. However, I have fictionalized it. It’s more of a mission film. Ek Tha Tiger was more of a romcom. The sequel explores the workspace of the agents much more.

If Katrina Kaif wouldn’t have agreed to be a part of the sequel, who would have been your next star?

The film would never have been made if Katrina was not there. She plays the equal part in the film. It explores both of them as agents and this is the reason it has been a true sequel. She is as important as Tiger in the film.

Salman said NO to intense romantic scenes in the movie. Did you rework a couple of scenes due to that?

Absolutely not. The romance in the film is a strong underlined romance. It’s not the face romance and the only idea was to tell the true story to the audience, which is a thrilling saga as well as a mission story.

 Salman has a policy of “No Kissing on Screen”. Were you ever tempted to push him..

(Cuts in) So do me. I have never pushed him or asked him to do so. I do not believe in kissing onscreen and none of my earlier movies has kissing or intimate scenes or bed scenes or dual meaning jokes etc. Whatever Bhai believes in and the kind of cinema he trusts on, we pretty much work on the same page.

Slowly you have become Salman’s favourite. What do you think has clicked with Bhai?

Somewhere, our sensibility of making films is quite same. Even the manner we both package our films and do our films, they are mostly clean and family oriented. While talking about the script or speaking about the scenes with Salman, we gel very well. My relationship with him is not of a Director-Actor, he’s more like my younger brother. He has several years of experience and I always pay attention to his strengths and powers.  His contribution to my work has been great. I think my journey as a Director has many things to do with his contributions. He has a great sense of humour that I love. At times, I think even he likes a bit of my sense of humour. So, we get along pretty well.

Even now do you get star struck when you see Salman or are you both on back-slapping terms?

No, if you are speaking in that manner, my relationship with him is just like a family member. I do not treat him like a Superstar. I can be in a room with him and would just look at him once and the rest of the time keep speaking with him. We have got that much understanding between us. I don’t do that extra thing or neither does he. At times, we are not speaking to each other for months. As I was busy in editing for Tiger Zinda Hai, we hardly got time to speak to each other. When we have something for each other, we speak. That has been the process in both of the films.

YRF has given you a free hand on the budget. How do you feel no one pulling at your back when it comes to money?

It’s honestly difficult as somewhere as a Director you are answerable to the Producer. So, every penny that’s has been spent turns to my responsibility. I make sure that my producers get it back. This is my biggest pressure on the film more than anything else! Well, the good part of it is when you see the film, every penny spent shows. The big budget was required because when you mount a film with the highest scale you need to make the audience believe that you were in a war zone country and this is how it functions in the scenario. Every detail in the camera gets registered. This creates an extra pressure and pushes you to make a film where people are going to notice the hard work you have put in identifying your efforts. Then only, they like the film.

Does the pressure also come from YRF as there wasn’t any blockbuster hit in the past few months?

Absolutely yes! It’s the part of your job. Definitely, when things are not working well you are under huge pressure. However, I think we know how to be a part of this game. It’s not at all new to us. We are fighting back.

This is a sequel to Ek Tha Tiger which was directed by Kabir Khan. How much difference this film has in terms of execution?

When I came up with the idea, I have shared it with Kabir and he truly liked it. He has also been very close to me. I want Kabir to watch the film and then we will know how he feels.

Your last film had a small dialogue where Shah Rukh Khan was mentioned in Salman’s dialogue. Is there anything similar you are trying to do in this film?

(Laughs) No. Not Shah Rukh Khan. But yes, there are references to other people, which you will get to know when you watch the film.

What if Padmavati had released on December 1? Do you think its delay is a blessing in disguise for your film?

I don’t believe it. Lots of people say that. It’s more of a trade language. I believe that if a film is a good one, it surely gets the deserving audience it needs. Even if Padmavati was coming on December 1, there was a quite big gap between releasing of 2 films. It’s pretty unfortunate that it didn’t release. I am quite hopeful that people are going to come in to watch Tiger Zinda Hai!

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