Q. It’s said, ‘It’s lonely at the top’. Do you agree?
Who said that? Whose quote is this? I’m sure some Hollywood personality must have said this. What is ‘top’? What is that high? At every given point of time there is one person, maybe a friend or family member who brings you down to earth. You can consider this as a humbling sign or be this obnoxious person and think, ‘Who does he think he is? Does he know who I am? Does he know whom he’s talking to?’ There are two ways of looking at it.
Q. But you can’t deny the success, the stardom, the hysteria…
(Interrupting) This is not what it is. This is not what one wants to be remembered by. Not at all. This perhaps was the goal when I was much younger.
Q. So what is your goal today?
Today it’s a lot more than that. Today it’s about where Being Human as a charitable trust can reach; how much good it can do, how much I can help it, how much it can help me and how much it can help Indians. That is the main goal right now. The products that we create, the money that comes in has to be used for good causes. If money can save lives, then we should have enough money to save those lives.
Q. Reportedly, Being Human is diversifying into restaurants…
Yes… We’re trying to find like-minded people who have done well for themselves and now want to go ahead with such a cause. We have to be careful about people who think this to be a brand, or a business venture and wish to associate with it for selfish reasons. We are taking it step bystep. We will first launch one restaurant in Mumbai and eventually in other cities.
Q. Okay, you have a Midas touch at the box-office. But isn’t there a desire to win the critics or maybe bag a National Award?
No. Never. Isn’t it evident? For example in the case of Dabangg. The audience has already given us the award and the reward. There are people who want awards because it changes the perception of the audience. People in the industry also start taking you seriously. Their price increases. They are compared to the other actors who were also nominated in that category. But I’m not into all that. My request has always been don’t nominate me, nominate the person who needs it, deserves it, wants it. If someone else wants it and I get it, I feel I am coming in his way. And it’s not so now. Ever since I came into the industry I was never fascinated by these things.
Q. There’s speculation that Kick might release with two other biggies Chennai Express and Krrish 3. Won’t this be cutting into one another’s business?
I’m not aware of this. We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it. But I agree they’ll eat into one another’s business. If something like that happens, we’ll take our film ahead. It’s fine. If they are stuck on a particular date, we will postpone ours. They should not suffer, we should not suffer.
Q. Superstardom on one side and ill-health on the other. Does it make you feel vulnerable?
I’m not ill anymore. All I have to do is be careful.
Q. Apparently, you’re headed for a surgery abroad on January 20.
It’s just a check up. The trigeminal neuralgia has been taken care of. There’s no pain. The aneurism still persists, which I have to keep checking on. But that’s okay; many people suffer from aneurism and live with it. It doesn’t hurt me, just that I’m not supposed to do a headstand or dive or be in a position where my head is lower than my body. There’s a chance of the aneurism bursting when the blood flow is heavy towards the head. But I am fine and am doing everything. In fact, I have done more action recently than I have in my earlier films. When action is backed with emotions and a good script you don’t mind doing it. But just action for no rhyme or reason is ridiculous.
Source: salmankhanfc.com