Upclose: The fight is real

Salman Khan talks ‘Sultan’ experience, rejects Arijit Singh’s music for film

Most of the fights in the Salman Khan starrer Sultan are real, without cables and with real wrestlers. However, disclosing it was one of the toughest roles he has ever essayed, Salman hopes the Ali Abbas Zafar directorial turns out to be his biggest hit.

“When Ali narrated the story to me, I thought I’ll be able to do it. But then while doing it, opposite me were not fighters but real wrestlers. Most of the shots in the film are real shots of wrestling and Mixed Marital Arts. There are no cables and because of them there is lot of contact happening in the film,” said Salman at the trailer launch of the film, reported IANS. When they lift you and put to the ground it used to hurt, they were about 120 to 130 kilos. They expect you to pick yourself up and throw you down again. That was the most difficult part.”

Salman plays the title character in the film, a wrestler, who goes on to win the gold medal for India in wrestling. But, due to personal reasons, he takes a break from the sport and, returns to it soon after age and an unfit body become hurdles for him. He is then coached by Randeep Hooda’s character in Mixed Martial Arts and reaches the big stage. Shedding light on his role, Salman shared it is far from being inspired from a real-life character. “It’s not enthused by a real-life character at all. It is actually the story of an underdog”.



Actor Anushka Sharma, who also plays the role of wrestler, serves as Salman’s love interest in Sultan.



“My character is that of a simple man who has no ambition. He sees a feisty girl and falls in love with her. She’s a wrestler, and he’s a nobody but he feels whenever he gets married, it will be to her,” Salman added, explaining Anushka’s role in the film. “Then it’s all about Sultan, how he goes down, and how he comes back with the help of the woman he loves. How the woman is responsible for making him, breaking him and because of her how he starts making it again.”

On the other hand, while Salman has had his share of tiffs with the film fraternity, his war with ace playback singer Arijit Singh seems to have transcended from personal to professional. According to The Indian Express, Arijit and Salman had a little fiasco where the latter felt insulted and, hence, declared that he will not have Arijit sing any of his songs in Sultan.

Since then, the singer has been trying different ways to reach out to Salman so that he can apologise - one instance being his recent open letter to Salman requesting him to retain his song in the film.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.

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