Zhu Zhu’s Hindi diction surprises Salman
MUMBAI: Actress Zhu Zhu, given only a few days to speak lines in Hindi, has surprised even Tubelight star Salman Khan with her diction.
The on-screen bonus? They have quite a chemistry in front of the cameras.
The movie, directed by Kabir Khan, has just started screening in the massive Indian market.
Days before the cinematic release, newsmen were able to banter with an upbeat Salman at Mehboob studios in Mumbai for details on Tubelight.
For his previous roles, Salman Khan had taught Hindi to exgirlfriend Katrina Kaif and Kick co-star Jacqueline Fernandez.
ItwaseasiertoteachJacqueline, he noted. But Zhu Zhu’s quick mastery of her dialogue in Hindi left Salman’s jaws on the floor.
Zhu Zhu is making her Bollywood debut.
She worked very hard to get it right. It wasn’t easy trying to please director Kabir Khan, who’s known to be a perfectionist.
He was rolling his eyes over her efforts until Salman came to the rescue.
Salman was patient enough to help her go over her lines, taking time to explain the meanings.
A resourceful Salman even came up with an easy method to help her memorise her lines.
Surprisingly, Zhu Zhu did not stop on just learning her lines. She picked up enough Hindi to have simple conversations in it.
Salman’s eyebrows rose. He was tickled pink. Even crew on the set were highly impressed.
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan makes a cameo appearance in the movie. It took just a phone call to convince him.
Salman said Shah Rukh didn’t even listen to the entire conversation before saying yes.
“When Kabir narrated the subject to me, he said for this role we should get Shah Rukh. So, I called up Shah Rukh and told him, ‘In Tubelight, there’s this small’, and he cut me, saying, ‘It’s done’. He didn’t even let me complete the sentence. He just said ‘it’s done’,” Salman told reporters.
Khan’s character Laxman Singh Bisht is gentle and shy, and tries wooing over Zhu Zhu by buying her son ice-cream. The stark contrast between Laxman and a majority of the other characters he has played thus far is evident from his body language around the Chinese actress.
Meanwhile, it has been reported Zhu Zhu has been too busy to promote the movie in India.
Said director Kabir Khan: “She is busy in China, so she can’t come here.”
The movie is set against the backdrop of the 1962 India-China war. While Sohail Khan is in the role of a soldier, Salman plays his simpleton brother.
When Kabir narrated the subject to me, he said for this role we should get Shah Rukh. So, I called up Shah Rukh and told him, ‘In Tubelight, there’s this small’, and he cut me, saying, ‘It’s done’. He didn’t even let me complete the sentence. He just said ‘it’s done’. Salman Khan, ‘Tubelight’ star