Salman Khan, in a new interview, opened up on how he isn’t fond of the ‘superstar’ tag. The actor also addressed the lull he faced in his career with films like Antim: The Final Truth and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan before Tiger 3 happened.
Touted to be one of the biggest stars of the country, Salman Khan is currently basking in the success of his latest film Tiger 3 co-starring Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi. Post the film’s release, in a new interview, the actor was asked if he misses doing something after becoming a superstar of this stature over the years.
As per a report in Pinkvilla, the actor responded by saying that while people like being called superstars or megastars, he isn’t fond of these terms.
The Bollywood star said, “That is something that I don’t care about. I’m doing my work; people are liking it, and that’s just what it is. I haven’t done anything on my own that I deserve the tag of a superstar.”
Elaborating on how the word ‘superstar’ is taken a bit too seriously, he said, “My name is Salman. Some call me Sallu, some call me ‘Bhai’, so that’s fine for me. But, I find the superstar tag ‘stupid and silly.’ I would appreciate it if people and even you (media) guys don’t use this term for me because I myself don’t believe that.”
He added, “I understand and appreciate you guys believing it because the film is doing well, and the numbers are there, so superstar, but I don’t think it’s right to put that tag on me. It’s a lot of pressure, and I don’t deserve it; it’s just that I’m giving my best and it’s working so far.”
Salman further said that while he doesn’t consider himself as a superstar, his walk which is considered to be arrogant gives a wrong impression.
“My walk is considered to be an arrogant walk but that’s the way I walk and I cannot change that walk, and I am comfortable in that walk and I am comfortable in my skin. Sometimes it comes out in a way that ‘yeh dekho, inki chaal dekho, kya samajhte hai? But I’ve been walking like that from childhood. Now if I walk like someone else then it won’t suit me. So, now this is who I am, what I do,” the actor explained.
He continued, “But yes, I don’t believe in this superstardom, and I have not done anything that I can take the credit of superstardom. Everyone, from our DOP (director of photography) to the scriptwriter to the director help this normal average Bandra boy look heroic on screen. That credit, I don’t like taking alone at all.”
According to another report in Indian Express, in the same interview, Salman also reflected upon his two box office failures- Antim: The Final Truth and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.
The actor told reporters, “The lows that you are talking about, the lows that I have been through, maybe the highest point of 99.9% of the country. So that low also, if I say that it was a low point for me then fans will say ‘yeh low hai toh hamara kya hai?’(If these are your lows then what about ours?) So I don’t consider that low also as a low.”
However, Salman also added that he takes full responsibility for his flops.
“You need to keep working harder and every year that goes by you need to work twice as hard, because you are growing older as well. You need to keep competing with yourself, you are anyway competing with your juniors and seniors but it is very important to compete with yourself,” the ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ actor said in his interview.