Abhinav, who directed the 2010 hit, has opened up about his difficult experience working with Salman and his family. The director didn’t mince words, calling Salman “a goon”.
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Fifteen years ago, ‘Dabangg’ stormed into theatres and turned into one of Bollywood’s most loved blockbusters. It introduced audiences to the fearless Chulbul Pandey. But behind the smashing box-office success, filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap says there was a storm brewing with Salman Khan.
In a new interview with ‘SCREEN’, Abhinav, who directed the 2010 hit, has opened up about his difficult experience working with Salman and his family. The director didn’t mince words, calling Salman “a goon” and claiming the actor has long lost interest in acting.
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“Salman is never involved. He hasn’t been serious about acting for the last 25 years. He just shows up, does a favour by being there. What he really enjoys is the power of being a celebrity, not the craft of acting,” Abhinav alleged. “Salman is badtameez (ill-mannered), ganda insaan (a bad person). I didn’t know this before ‘Dabangg’.”
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The filmmaker’s fallout with the Khans happened soon after the film’s success, especially when he refused to direct ‘Dabangg 2’. Abhinav claims the family tried to sabotage his career for not toeing their line.
“They are vindictive people. They want to control the industry. If you don’t agree with them, they come after you. Salman is the father of the star system in Bollywood,” he said.
Interestingly, Abhinav revealed that his brother, director Anurag Kashyap, had faced a similar experience years earlier during the making of ‘Tere Naam’. “Anurag wrote the script for ‘Tere Naam’. He was supposed to direct it, but Boney Kapoor misbehaved with him. He walked away without credit. The same thing happened with me on ‘Dabangg’. The foundation of a great film is always a strong script, but they don’t respect that,” Abhinav shared.
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