Sallu tests his luck

For the first time ever, Salman's not taking off his shirt in a film: in Lucky, produced by brother Sohail Khan.

Salman Khan might be labelled as Bollywood’s bad boy but his popularity seems to soar with each of his release. For the first time ever, he’s not taking off his shirt in a film: in Lucky, produced by brother Sohail Khan. Excerpts from an interview where Salman reveals a side to him you’ve never seen before.

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How would you like to describe Lucky – No Time For Love?

It’s a feel-good romantic film. Lucky has action, romance, comedy and emotions. But the most important thing is that the script and the dialogues of Lucky are very good. The entire look of the film is also great. The canvas of the film is huge, that’s the reason why we have made Lucky both in English and Hindi .

What is it that excited you about Lucky the most?

I am a writer’s son (his father Salim Khan used to be a scriptwriter in the 70s), so the first thing that I ever look for into a movie is the script. Then if after the first narration I like the script then I do the film. In this case, after I heard the script I not only wanted to do the film but also wanted to produce it myself.

This is the first time a man-woman duo is directing you. How different was the experience?

Both of them are totally in sync. If Radhika used to come and tell me something I knew for sure that Vinay knew about it. Whatever they did was well discussed and sometimes it used to happen that even if they hadn’t discussed they used to come and tell the same thing.

Women are known to be more emotional. How helpful was it to have Radhika while shooting emotional scenes?

While shooting emotional scenes, she never could help as she used to start crying herself.

There are a lot of actresses in Bollywood, why did you not choose one of them for the lead role?

We needed a new girl. Among the current lot of actresses with due respect to all of them, I don’t think anybody can look like convincing as a schoolgirl and a fresh face does make a lot of difference to a film.

How and where did you spot Sneha?

Arpita, my younger sister had seen Sneha first. We had been looking for a new girl for sometime and then Arpita suggested Sneha’s name. She introduced us to her. Then Vinay and Radhika did a screen test of her and liked her on spot. After that we signed her.

How is Sneha as an actress?

Very satisfying. Sneha is amazing and I think she will be one of the big heroines of this industry in the days to come.

This is the first time you worked with Mithun. How were the vibes?

I had a great time with Mithunda. We used to have dinner together after pack-up . Almost every night, he took me from one restaurant to another. As an actor he is amazing. I have known him since I was 14-years old. Even my father has known him for years. So he is a family friend too.

Any experience that stayed with you?

We were shooting on a flat surface of ice. After three days we found out that it was a sea which was frozen. The ice could have cracked somewhere.