After many celebs like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar took to Facebook, it is now Salman Khan's turn to join Facebook. As the Dabagg actor joined the social networking site, he gave a sneak peek into the chain of Being Human stores opening in October. The actor's Facebook
In a video message posted on his page, Salman said: "A lot of people told me 'there are so many of (your) fake Facebook pages, so when are you joining it'. So here I am on this platform."
"Jitne fake pages hain woh ya toh woh join kar le is page ko or kya kahun main? 'Fake off' (So all the fake pages either just join this page or, what can I say, fake off)."
"We are opening Being Human stores all over India starting October," he added.
Salman Khan's fans here went on a rampage after a rumour that the actor was in town to shoot his new film "Dabangg 2″, forcing police to resort to baton charge and arrest six persons.
The fans gathered around Bajaria police station here since afternoon hoping to catch a glimpse of the 46-year-old star, who plays a cop in the movie. But when told that the actor is not coming, they went berserk and vandalised the police station.
Police resorted to baton charge to control the crowd and arrested six people.
Salman's brother and the film's director Arbaaz Khan had apparently come here a few days ago for finalising details of location, which started the rumour that the "Wanted" actor was in town.
"The crowd was standing there hoping that Salman Khan is coming. To control the crowd we had to resort to lathi charge. We have filed complaint against many," said ACP Bharat Singh.
It was reported that few scenes of the film were to be shot here but the crew cancelled the shoot due to security reasons and decided to opt for Lucknow.
Salman bhai may guarantee a grand opening for Arbaaz Khan's directorial debut, but a hit is still not a foregone conclusion
On Saturday, just a day before the Lucknow leg of " Dabangg 2"'s shooting schedule was to begin, its director Arbaaz Khan seemed to have had a lot on his mind as he settled down for a chat in the lobby of a plush five-star in the city.
A bug that he'd caught as soon as he landed in the city wasn't helping matters either. But despite all this you couldn't miss the excitement on Arbaaz's face as he began to talk about his directorial debut.
"Where else would we have gone if not Lucknow? I have visited the city earlier also and somehow, it manages to encompass all that is so essentially North Indian. Besides, my film is based in UP, my character is moving into a bigger town and what are the big cities here if not Lucknow and Kanpur," reasoned Arbaaz, adding, "It will be difficult to name locations as I'm not really familiar with the names of places here. But I loved the old city areas and this huge chauraha in your main marketplace...And Kanpur's railway station was also quite interesting."
But what we really wanted to talk about is him venturing into direction, and that too with a sequel to a blockbuster. "Of course, every sequel comes with its advantages and challenges and even more so with a film like "Dabangg" that has established a legacy. But I have had all of this sorted in my mind for long. On the brighter side, "Dabangg" has a huge fan base, so people will come to watch my film for sure. It has a loyalty base and the director is expected to maintain the quality to meet the expectations of those people. But yaar, legacy kahaan tak chalegi? A film has to run into the second week also, na? Log toh Friday, Saturday ya Sunday aa jaayenge hype pe, but what about the next week. If I don't make a good, strong film, people will say, 'Isme mazaa nahin aaya.' And I am very conscious of that since, of course, this is my debut as a director also. I want to make a worthy sequel and show my expertise," he said.
As for making a sequel to a hit film, Arbaaz's simple logic is: "Why not? I'm sure of my abilities, and I know my film has a scope. As a producer too, I was aware of the scope of my characters of my story and my setting. "Dabangg 2" is a logical extension. I'm very sure I can take this franchisee forward. See, here sequels are made only when the initial film has been successful, which my earlier film was. And trust me, turning director is a well-thought out decision, it did not happen overnight. I was thinking of direction even when I was acting."
Of course, one would assume that to have Salman Khan in your kitty would mean half the problem solved. But Arbaaz has a different perspective. As she explained, "Salman Khan is like having Sachin in your team. The people love him, the camera loves him... One would say, 'Yaar Sachin hai toh century toh bana hi lega.' But think about it, Sachin ne century bana liya but the other players in the team were not able to play... What then? Match toh log ek run se bhi haar jaate hain na... what I'm trying to say is that my script and my work has to be tight enough also."
However, a smile softened Arbaaz's features when we mention the original Munni, and wonder how her absence will affect the franchise. Arbaaz sets us on course with, "Malaika is my lucky charm. Main uske liye kahin toh jagah banaunga..." leaving us wondering.
Though over three years ago when Arbaaz Khan conceptualised ‘Dabangg’, the film took its own sweet time to be made and ready itself for release. However he now feels that there were lessons learnt at every stage of the film’s production, something that was bound to come handy in his following assignments.
Now by picking up the mantle of being a director as well as a producer, he is feeling all the more liberated.
“One major thing that I realised with this twin role is that I can engineer the budget the way I want”, says Arbaaz, “Also, I have a complete creative control over the proceedings now.
This is something that I craved for and was waiting for just the right opportunity to stake my claim.”
What is adding to the experience is Salman Khan’s presence in the film who is reprising the iconic character of ‘Chulbul Pandey’ all over again.
With the actor delivering three back to back 100 crore hits (with fourth pretty much on the anvil with ‘Ek Tha Tiger’), one expects him to do his own thing with ‘Dabangg 2’ as well.
One wonders whether the quintessential ‘Salman trait’ has been taken care of in the writing stage itself.
Says Arbaaz, “During ‘Dabangg’, Salman was mainly getting a hang of the character. Now he knows what the audience likes. Of course I have to give audience their ‘Chulbul Pandey’ as the same hero who has been loved for so long now.
Accordingly the film has been designed, written and executed.”
Rest assured, audience won’t really mind that once the escapades are out in open this December once ‘Dabangg 2’ hits the screens all over.
