Filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap, the brother of Anurag Kashyap, broke out with the blockbuster success of Dabangg, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this year. But he didn’t have the best experience working with the film’s star, Salman Khan, and has made multiple allegations against him over the years. Recently, Abhinav accused Salman of being a ‘goon’ in an interview with SCREEN, and in a new chat, the filmmaker reasserted his statements, and said that Salman was in need of a major image makeover before the release of Dabangg.
Chatting with Bollywood Thikana, Abhinav said that Salman had developed the image of being a ‘chhichhora’ and a ‘mawali’ because of his films Wanted and Tere Naam, and that he had to leave that version behind for Dabangg. Abhinav said that he first approached Arbaaz Khan, who was interested in playing the lead role himself, but later offered to produce the film. It was Arbaaz and Sohail Khan who arranged for a meeting between Abhinav and Salman, after which he was given a signing amount of Rs 10 lakh and told to get started on the film. “I wasn’t involved in the decision-making, I was told that decisions had been made,” he said, making a reference to Sonakshi Sinha being cast as the female lead without his knowledge.
“My opinion on Salman Khan and his family stands. They are not normal human beings. They are proven criminals. He’s out on bail. He’s a convicted criminal, out on bail. A criminal is a criminal. There are things that even I know,” he said, making a reference to his earlier comments to SCREEN. In that interview, Abhinav had said, “Salman has never involved. He is not even interested in acting, and he hasn’t been since the last 25 years. He does a favour by turning up to work. He is more into the power of being a celebrity, but he is not interested in acting. He is a gunda (goon). I was not aware of this before Dabangg. Salman badtameez hai, ganda insaan hai (Salman is ill-mannered, he is a bad person).”
In his new interview, Abhinav Kashyap recalled his reaction to being told that Salman Khan was interested in doing Dabangg. “Salman’s image at the time was that of a chhichhora, someone who would harass women on the streets. This was around 2008, when I’d signed the film. He’d done Tere Naam then. He had a very unflattering image, that of a crazed lover or a roadside Romeo. He also had that towel dance.”
Interestingly, Abhinav’s brother, Anurag Kashyap, also had a falling out with Salman over the film Tere Naam, which he was supposed to write. He said in an earlier interview with Samdish Bhatia that he was fired from the project after suggesting that Salman should grow his chest hair for the part. Dabangg was released in 2010 to critical and commercial success, and it went on to spawn two sequels that Abhinav wasn’t a part of.
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