'My true association with Salman began through Katrina'

Director Kabir Khan has worked with Salman Khan only twice but their association goes a long back.

Long before they signed Ek Tha Tiger and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kabir had approached the actor for his debut directorial venture Kabul Express.

Salman even liked the script but somehow the two did not collaborate back then. 

"I can’t claim to have known Salman well before I made Ek Tha Tiger but I’ll tell you an incident that happened when I was new in the film industry," Kabir says. "When I wanted to make Kabul Express, I was taken by (special effects crewmember) Apurva Shah to meet Salman Khan.

"Salman met me with great affection and curiosity and asked me what I was planning to make. I narrated 10 minutes of Kabul Express. He liked it and said he would like to play the lead. I laughed it off.

"Later, when we met he reminded me how I had never got back to him about Kabul Express. To this day, I am not sure if he would have done it or not. My true association with Salman began through Katrina (Kaif).

"I was planning New York and my producer Aditya Chopra suggested I try Katrina for the female lead as she suited the half-Indian, half-Caucasian role. Katrina heard me out but must have been confused and zapped by what I had offered her. She went back to Galaxy Apartments (where Salman lives) and told him that this weird director had offered her this weird role.

"Salman wanted to know who it was. When she told him it was some guy called Kabir Khan, he remembered my meeting with him. He asked her about the film I had offered her and then advised her to do the film. Salman’s endorsement at that point of time meant a lot to me.

"Many years later, we came together for Ek Tha Tiger and there was a lot of debate on the sets between us," recalls Kabir.

"Here was this star with 15 blockbusters behind him being told what to do by a relatively new director. Salman wasn’t used to taking instructions from directors. We would often argue. By the time we came to Bajrangi Bhaijaan, we had discovered a meeting ground and had become very close friends."

The cinematographer-turned-filmmaker reveals,"So yes, making Bajrangi was a far far more comfortable experience. I can’t discuss how much Salman has grown as an actor since Maine Pyar Kiya. But I can tell you of his tremendous involvement with every aspect of a film. Salman has now become far more collaborative. He gives lot of inputs.

"I listened to him and I incorporated them when I found them suitable. I could see his involvement with his character during Bajrangi Bhaijaan. He would go into a corner of the set and just be with himself for 15-20 minutes. I could see he was thinking about what his character was doing, and why."

Interestingly, Kabir and Salman may soon team up for a film once again. "I’ve another subject that I am working on which is just right for him,” Kabir says.

Guess the official announcement is just around the corner!