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19 March 2024

Is ‘Kick’ Salman’s real life? Chetan Bhagat?

Indian Bollywood actor Salman Khan (C) launches the first trailer of his movie 'Kick'. (SANSKRITI MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT)

Published
By Bindu Rai

Chetan Bhagat admits he’s a nervous man.

However, don’t go nursing any false notions that his anxiety is stemming from the most recent backlash on social media that saw the celebrated author weigh in on current political affairs.

Controversy’s poster child on Twitter is ‘Kick’ed up in frenzy as the biggest test of his career – for Bollywood fans at least – lays bare his most recent efforts in the avatar of a Salman Khan film; a film that is only being touted as perhaps the biggest box office trailblazer for the Indian movie industry.

Indian Author Chetan Bhagat speaks during Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) in Jaipur on January 21, 2012. (AFP)

“I do not want to be remembered as the man who couldn’t even it get it right with a Salman Khan in his film,” confessed Bhagat, in a phone interview with Emirates 24|7.

‘Kick’, which opens across UAE cinemas today as the Bollywood release to coincide with the Eid Al Fitr festivities next week, is a Salman vehicle that is expected to release globally just a few hundred shy of 5,000 screens by UTV Motion Pictures.

“I feel I’m readying for an exam with millions of invigilators,” Bhagat explained. “Admittedly, I am a little less stressed than I was before the release of ‘2 States’ (adapted from Bhagat’s book of the same). Maybe it is the Salman factor talking.”

Bhagat, who is the screenplay writer for ‘Kick’, continued: “I am not worried about the film’s opening honestly. The real fear is, with a Salman Khan in it there are expectations; and if you can’t make a film with Salman work then the crew gets it really badly. They will say we couldn’t make it work even with this man.

“As Sajid Nadiadwala (director) says, Salman is a diamond that is well established. We are the diamond cutters and polishers. And if we can’t make this diamond shine, nobody is going to blame the diamond.”

Is Salman Khan the new Rajnikanth?


An urban legend in Indian showbiz narrates a tale of the immortal reel-life of Rajnikanth; so obsessed are fans by the superstar’s persona that any film that kills of his character could spark a riot and death threats for its filmmakers.

Salman Khan’s Bollywood status is not far off the mark.

Quiz Bhagat over the comparison and the writer simply laughed, saying: “We cannot deny that Salman has more fans than any Hindi movie actor. But the fans are demanding. Not every Salman film works. He has a lot of fans and devotion. But an actor’s profession is like cricket, as long as they play well.”

Bhagat counts himself as one of Salman’s fans, admitting that he cut even college to see ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’, the actor’s second film and one that shot him to stardom.

“I had a huge crush on Bhgayashree. We would wear caps with the word ‘friend’ on it like in the film. From a man studying engineering and entering the banking sector one day and then to share a stage with Salman, this is a huge kick. Here is a man, one of the most popular Indians and I was writing something from him.”

A few filmmakers in the past, and even fewer on record, have revealed that writing a screenplay for Salman is a test in itself, with the actor being notorious for coming to shoots without learning his lines and improvising as he goes along.

Ask Bhagat and he doesn’t deny some of Salman’s traits, saying: “Salman does improvise, yes. But the only reason Salman agreed to the film and Sajid is directing it is because the movie is about a character that is very similar to Salman.”

You mean to say the ‘Devil’ do-gooder he plays in the film is based on his real life?

Bhagat answered: “‘Kick’ is about a guy who lives for his kick, for his high in life. He does things for his amusement. That is Salman. That is who he is in real life. Anyone who knows him will vouch for that.

“Honestly, if not Salman, ‘Kick’ should not have been made. He just lives for his kick, with no heed to the consequences. He lives from the heart.”

‘Kick’ing it in Bollywood

As a bestselling Indian author, Bhagat has become a household name with his penmanship, several of his books having been adapted to Bollywood films in the past, ‘2 States’ being his most recent, with Arjun Kapoor and Aliaa Bhatt in the lead.

With his descent into Bollywood over the years, Bhagat’s transition has now seen him pen an independent screenplay for ‘Kick’ at the request of Nadiadwala, who was the producer of ‘2 States’.

“Sajid had bought the rights to ‘2 States’, that’s how he got to know me,” revealed Bhagat. “Sajid has this huge couch in his office, not a casting couch, but a conceiving couch. Every time I sit on it, something has been conceived.”

Bhagat further revealed that it was Sajid who had called him one fine day, saying that after 20 years of producing films he was finally directing one for his best friend Salman Khan and if the author would like to write it.

“I had penned the screenplay of ‘Kai Po Che’ earlier, but I am mainly an author and this was a different genre entirely. It was a challenge to expand my range as writer,” he recalled. “It’s a different palette of colours, writing a screenplay. Think of it as cooking a meal on ‘Masterchef’ as opposed to serving a meal at school. Both are cooking but a different style in its entirety.

“People have said in the past that my book writing is cinematic in style. But Salman movies are different so I learned a lot from Sajid, which is why he is co-credited as a screenplay writer.”

Ask him whether he finds it easier to write a fresh screenplay or adapt one from one of his books and Bhagat is quick to reply: “Oh, a fresh screenplay is definitely easier. With a book, people have read it already and played the movie in their heads; so now you are competing with their heads.”

Twitter trouble

In the midst of his ‘Kick’ promotional blitzkrieg, Bhagat also found time to embroil himself in yet another Twitter controversy as he weighed in on the issue of conflict in the Middle East region.

Many followers were not impressed.

Call Bhagat on it and he stated: “Twitter is a double-edged sword and sometimes things go too far, and sometimes the definition is lost with 140 characters; even with multiple tweets, sometimes you can’t explain yourself. Some people take it the wrong way.

“My general philosophy is to present both sides of the argument, to have people look at a contrarian view and look at a balanced view on things.”

Bhagat stated that on Twitter people sometimes have rigid opinions and they gang up with others who have similar opinions, thus creating a huge confirmation bias where everybody thinks the same.

“They stop listening to other side. It happens a lot and I suffer the brunt,” he admitted. “I don’t know if I am an easy target. I am a celebrity, but I am unfortunately not an actor or a cricketer. My job is to write and give opinions, especially as a columnist in the nonfiction arena.

“Either I shut up and manage my career, stick to conformity and charm everyone or remain true to my conviction that people need to hear this. I choose the latter.

“Yes, it is easy to punch some abuse on the phone and send it. That is your right. Everyone has right to say what they want. I am okay with it. I have been through much worse adversity in life and if some hate tweets are my biggest problem then I am truly blessed.”

He continued: “The last time I had same level of abuse was there years ago when I tweeted: ‘Maybe we should look at Narendra Modi in a more balanced manner’. It was then and look what happened there. Sometimes I do know what I am talking about.”