Actor-filmmaker Arbaaz Khan has worked with his superstar brother Salman Khan in films like Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Hello Brother, Garv: Pride & Honor and Dabangg. He also directed her in his first directorial venture Dabangg 2. However, just because they were siblings, the process of directing Salman was not an easy one. He recently shared with us how his elder brother decided to ‘rattle’ him after he gained the confidence that he could handle his tantrums and bear the pressure of taking up a film director’s chair.
Dabangg 2Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Prakash Raj, Deepak Dobriyal, and Manoj Pahwa among others, was released ten years ago in 2012. The film was a blockbuster hit and did a total business of Rs 155 crore.
Sharing his experience of becoming a director for his brother, Arbaaz recalled how Salman tested him on the sets of Dabangg 2. “He may be my brother, but he is also a star and a professional. I was a director for the first time, and he wanted to test the waters and see, ‘Do I know my job?’. On the first day, I had forty shots in line and he let me go by the book and do it. I thought, ‘Wow, what an obedient actor. I’m asking him to do it and he’s doing it.” SonyLIV Series Tension.
Salman Khan in a scene from Dabangg 2. (Photo: Express Photo)
But Arbaaz’s happiness was short-lived. It was on the second day of the shoot that he got to see his brother in his element as Salman scrutinized everything Arbaaz had shot on the first day. He made it clear what he would like to retain from the first day’s shoots and will only do films that he feels comfortable doing.
Arbaaz shared, “When he (Salman) was confident that I would do it, he decided to knock me down. Started giving suggestions. Oh what do you like?Got my satisfaction on your first day (You got satisfaction on the first day)’. He said what he didn’t want to retain. He told how he will shoot and what not. This was the moment when Arbaaz realized, ‘I am going to be baptized with fire’. I said, ‘It won’t work with him. He will turn back and say that I am not coming from here, I am coming from there. I’m not going to say that, I’m going to say that.'”
But appearing opposite Salman in her first film as an actor prepared Arbaaz for the future. hey told indianexpress.com“But I think it was a good training ground for me because if you’re too stiff and too unstable, it can knock you down. Then, I thought ‘If I can do it where I’m in my head, I know what to do, But this actor won’t let me, so I can handle any situation’ (If I can do it where I know what to do, but the actor won’t let me..) It was a good experience And I could see him (Salman) enjoying it too.
In those days when Salman did not come on the sets, Arbaaz used to do what he wanted to do 100 percent. “In the days when he wasn’t shooting, I used to think, ‘today i will do 200% what i thought,’ because the rest of the cast were very obedient. I used to wait for such days because I knew that these are the days when I can get 100% of my work. So it was like that,” shared Arbaaz.
While the film marked Arbaaz’s debut as a film director, it was not meant to be directed by him. It fell in his lap after Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap refused to work on the second film in the franchise. Later there was a public rift between the two. Abhinav accused Arbaaz and Sohail Khan of spoiling his career.
“When we decided to make Dabangg 2, I pitched the film to him (Abhinav). I said, ‘Since you wrote and directed the first, the first rights on the sequel are yours. We will sort out the equation of our profession as it is nothing personal, our koi dummi to hai nahi (we have no personal animosity). But due to some strange reason he and I could not work together, so we had to move on,” Arbaaz said.
Although it has been almost 10 years since Dabangg 2 released, Arbaaz has not directed any other film. He said that he never got time to work in a film as he was busy with his production and acting projects. But, he will soon find time to work on a script and will once again take up the director’s chair.