Salman Khan - The Best Looking Guy in Bollywood

Ah! the pressures of being one of the hottest hunks. His presence seems to provoke a scene wherever he goes. Hysteria breaks out - thousands of girls go all coy and blushing in his presence, not quite knowing where to look. Female visitors to the sets of his movies tend to leave with their knees distinctly weaker than when they arrived. Go to a girl's college and you'd come across snippets of such breathless chat: "Salman is the best thing to have happened to Hindi films - he's so handsome, so intriguing, so sexy." Said one of his leading ladies, "Oh, my God, it's so difficult to ward off his female fans, they're crazy about him." Female public's growing obsession with Salman is the best indication of the fact that we're clearly in the grip of 'Salman mania' .

As we go visiting Salman Khan in his sea-facing, balconied home in Bandra trying to explore what exactly sky-rocketed this heartthrob to instant fame and celebrity, it all starts falling into place gradually. Guess, in the first place, one is struck by Salman's masculine good looks, his pec-tacular build, his easy demeanour and that repressed smile. He is the kind of a man who might try to sneak quietly into a noisy, crowded room but who, if he did, would stop conversation. He talks shyly but his body language bespeaks immense self-confidence. One imagines film stars from a different era must have had this quality. In an age when the allure of many leading actors is all on the surface, with bland, conventional looks, Salman is something else. The other guys have the star power in varying degrees, but this guy has it by the truckload. He has it like noone else. Little wonder then that women seem drawn to it like iron filings to a magnet. And it's no surprise that everyone wants to get close to him. Or at least get a look at him.

But it's not so easy. He is a reluctant star at best. He shuns attention. Paparazzi can't track the elusive star down..he's an extremely private person. As far as he's concerned, work stops when the camera stops rolling. And not to forget the adversary relationship with the Press that dubbed him 'a bad dude, with the disposition of a wild snot and fists of fury'. Well, if he needs that fury 'to keep scums at bay' why should it be denied him?

At close range, Salman is boyishly likeable. He makes you want to reach through his physical deterrence and give him a friendly pat, as he smiles, lowering his eyes and shakes your hand. There's something about him, an instant familiarity. With no curtain of diffidence to drop, no attitude problem, he immediately opens up as if he were an old pal. He's the kind of a guy whose company one seeks because he is loaded with natural charm. He laughs easily at your humour, pays close attention to your questions and answers them fully and thoughtfully. He's focussed without being strained. Salman's reputation for being rude doesn't mean a thing once you meet him. You can't believe any bad stuff written about him and can easily shrug off business built on gossip which leads to a lot of misunderstanding and tarnishes someone's name. In real life he's a completely normal guy. With just one big difference. Salman has it- the star quality. But he is one of those rare actors who hasn't taken full advantage of his charms or star status. Anyone in his place could've signed any number of movies, but this is a hunk through which a grassblade of conscience heroically peeks. Salman has always made it a point to be part of an ensemble which is the mark of the very substantial, committed and up person that he is. There's a rare spine of integrity to everything he does, like turning down roles which didn't agree with him - temperamentally. It's easy to see why he commands respect.

Without being disrespectful about the films he turned down, he says, "Do you realize the influence film stars wield? I am aware of the importance of what you do and what you say on screen that millions of people are going to see. There's a responsibility. I am not saying I want to play good guys all the time but I'm wary about doing a film with negative overtones. I won't do it because it's got a big budget. I don't feel comfortable perpetuating violence or vulgarity. I don't want to hurt the sensibilities of my fans, maybe because I feel if l'm a role model, I shouldn't be a bad influence."

Ask him if he ever regrets rejecting films which went on to become runaway hits and you'd find him surprisingly nonchalant. His words bespeak no more than professional courtesy when he says, "I always feel happy about the films which are proclaimed hits." But adds a rider with his brand of humour, "Had I not rejected those films, how would they have catapulted others to stardom? I feel good that an inadvertent move of mine created competition." Talking of competition, whenever he's teamed with another hero in a movie, has he been bothered that he should get the girl in the fade-out, to be one-up on the other guy? "Never," says he, almost offhandedly. "In Saajan, Sanju (Sunjay Dutt) got the girl, in Majhdhaar, Rahul Roy walks off with the heroine. Maybe I'm better off this way. Letting the other guy ride off into the sunset with the girl, I get the audience sympathy." And he also gives a lot of importance to having a rapport with his co-stars. "You have to make an effort to establish a rapport in the interest of the film. I have worked with Sunjay Dutt, Nana Patekar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Sunny Deol, Rahul Roy, Sanjay Kapoor and Jackie Shroff and have always got along with everyone." But whom does he like the best? He's at his candid best, "Sunjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Aamir and Govinda."

A romantic film seems to be his normal habitat, playing all too clean-cut heroes. "Playing the romantic," says Salman, 'is perfectly consistent with my image. So why should I move out of it?" Trying to avoid the apparent rough and tumble in a film? "It's not as if I don't do action films - in fact, I have a wider choice of roles than many others. Wasn't Veergati an action film ?

What went wrong with Veergati? Salman ruminates a while and says, "It was quite a heavy film and too long. Also it was much too verbose, I feel. Basically it was the screenplay that was flawed." But Salman's most compelling work to date has been with Sooraj Barjatya. 'Yes, you're right," admits Salman. "Sooraj has been able to capture my boy-next-door image to the hilt. I really like the way he presents me - an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal boyfriend. And I guess that is what appeals to the audiences as well."

Clear proof of cinematic smashes Maine Pyar Kiya and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. Salman also goes on to say, "Sooraj Barjatya's scripts, screenplay, meticulous planning and minute attention to detail are also largely responsible for the success of his films." Sooraj has reportedly signed Salman for his next venture too. "When a combination has clicked, you should stick to it, isn't it?" he just leaves it at that. But despite that Salman doesn't subscribe to the view that there's anything like a director's actor. An actor has to have the requisite talent to deliver the goods for no director can make a non-actor an actor. The combination of a capable director and a talented actor can work wonders."

But why didn't that happen in case of the much hyped Khamoshi, considering Salman holds its director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali in high esteem. "Yes, he's simply brilliant," the actor chips in an appreciative comment about the director and even goes on to express gratification at his own role in the film. "People also liked my performance immensely. Maybe the film didn't do well because it was too classy and wasn't meant for the interiors." Talking of his directors, how can one not ask Salman, how does he rate his own brother Sohail, who's directing him in Auzaar. "He's very cool, very relaxed, never gets angry and allows anynumber of takes. He makes all the actors comfortable. Auzaar is a fast-paced, entertaining film, meant for the masses." That's a pretty full list of enthusiasms. After the amazing success of HAHK and Karan Arjun, when some of his films. bombed at the box-office, did he feel that they set his career back? "It's the Pressthat tends to write you off. Otherwise, it doesn't make much of a difference. Even when I was going though a lean phase, I had quite a few films. That way there's a lot of work in the in,dustry. But personally, any film's failure does seem to affect you. And if two-three films don't do well in a row, you start questioning your own intelligence and doubts start creeping up about the next releases too."

Does that mean miscalculation or wrong judgement? "Yes," nods Salman in agreement and goes on to cite the example of his role in Jeet. "I completely misjudged that role. I just couldn't pull it off and felt that I'd messed it up. But while shooting I thought I was giving it my 100%." The roles that he empathizes with are the ones like in Karan Arjun. Performances which are not soaring riffs of rhetoric but winces of hurt, smiles tentatively offered, then shyly withdrawn, pockets of unspoken feeling. "The role in Karan Arjun was after my heart because it was the simplest kind of a role. Enacting an emotional, introvertish character comes easily because when I face the camera, I just let my persona take over. I don't want to be a stylized actor." Watchful control and a sense of lake-filled silence behind a thin, rustling curtain of words are the hallmarks of Salman's acting style. That's why he says, "Singing, dancing and doing comedy, I feel, are the most difficult to do." And in the same vein goes on to add, "But I'm a firm believer in acting as an art and I respond really emotionally to great acting." The reason why Salman admires Govinda "I love that guy. For me Govinda is 'the' man. He's an actor one can truly call versatile, a movie star in the truest sense of the words. Give him any kind of a role, and he'd carry it off so well. I guess he can do that because he's so earthy, so uninhibited and not at all self-conscious. You can't give your best if you start feeling awkward like I do while doing comedy."

Look, Salman speaks his mind. There's no self-editing going on, there's no instinctive red pencil. What an enjoyable person, really. So how did he cause trepidation because of his alleged attitude and behaviour? Why was he labelled of having gone through the swellhead thing? "If you don't talk to somebody, you're termed arrogant. Since I don't do the Press, the journalists have a small right to be peeved hence I earned the reputation of being rude." But hasn't Salman's buttoned lip made him lose out on publicity? He concurs, "In a certain way, yes. You do lose out on something when you take a stand. At times, I myself am horrified by my pictures which run in the magazines. Because I don't do any photo-sessions, just about any photograph of mine is used. My fans must be starved of my good pictures." And he laughs, "God! if I want to make money, I should just take pictures of myself and sell them."

Perhaps Salman's reputation for being a bad boy comes from his outspokenness rather than from his behaviour. He'd rather be truthful than politic and that causes him problems. Anyway, he doesn't get riled however hard they try to rattle his cage. For his onscreen smile and eye-contact project a vulnerability which contrasts with the image created by the media of a violent, reckless man. Cashing in on his visual image, what does he feel about his role as a sex symbol? "I am grateful to God for making me the way I am. I know I'm known for my looks which have endured with female fans over the long haul. Their frenzied craziness is proof enough. But I feel this sex-symbol thing is yet to reach a crescendo."

Even after marriage? For he's reportedly getting married to actress, Somy Ali, soon. "Aren't all the other actors married? Even in the past most of the popular actors were married. I don't think one's marital status affects one's popularity." So when does he plan to lead Somy to the altar? "Sometime next year", says he in her presence and adds lovingly, "I am very happy with Somy now. She's exactly the kind of a girl I always wanted to marry." It seems she's already quit films. Is that because he doesn't want her to work any more? He couldn't be more forthcoming. "I have no double standards. Call me an MCP if you want, but I don't want my woman to go out and work. I don't care about the past, but once married, I don't want any mess on my domestic front. I want her to respect me in order to earn respect from me. Mutual respect is the most important thing in a relationship."

His priorities in life? "My family, my girlfriend, my work, my friends," says he with a smile. And the ideal way of life? A sigh of contentment escapes his lips as he answers this one. "Sun in my face, coke in hand and no tensions in my head, as now." Today he doesn't seem to have any need for battles. He's calmed down. Happily wearing his stardom, he's friendly, intensely likeable, instantly chummy, the antithesis of the arrogant and moody star. The calm eye in the centre of the hurricane, that's movie- making. So where's the peril ?