DABANGG IS AN ICONIC FILM: ARBAAZ KHAN
The actor-filmmaker says he has never felt the pressure of delivering memorable films
Arbaaz Khan started his career as an actor with films such as Suryavanshi (1992), Daraar (1996), Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kiya (1998) and Hulchul (2003). Later, he produced Dabangg, and then directed Dabangg 2 (2012), which became blockbusters. Even as speculation about him directing the third film in the Dabangg franchise keeps coming up, Arbaaz shrugs and says “Maybe” when asked about it. He’s focusing more on his upcoming film, which stars Sunny Leone.
Asked what’s taking him so long to decide on his next directorial and whether he feels the pressure to match up to the previous films’ success, Arbaaz says, “I have realised that great work happens, you cannot create it. When I was producing Dabangg, I decided that I have to make something good, but I never knew that it would become one of the most iconic films of the generation. You have to be pretty much humble about it. These things just happen and there can never be a definition of ‘great’ on paper.”
The actor gives the example of the cult classic, Sholay, the screenplay of which was written by his father Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar. He says, “Even when people like Salim-Javed were working on Sholay, they knew they were doing something good. Whenever people make a film .... they do something nice, but they cannot give it in writing that what they are doing will create history. No one knew that Sholay is going to be remembered for the next 25 years,” he says.
The 50-year-old actor, whose brother Salman Khan is a superstar in the film industry, has never felt the pressure of delivering memorable films just for the heck of it.
“I think those fears (of success) have been dispelled long time back. I don’t think one can exist or continue to build a life around those things. You can’t be too protective or bogged down by the fact that you have an illustrious father and also, a well-known brother. The point is to keep innovating and also, to keep working and not worry about it,” he says.
I think those fears [of success] have been dispelled long time back. You can’t be too protective or bogged down by the fact that you have an illustrious father [Salim Khan] and a wellknown brother [Salman Khan] ARBAAZ KHAN, ACTOR