A Rogue’s Tale

A predominanatly action-romantic-dramarama,Dabangg stands for all rogue people— fearless,wilful but loveable. “You will find many such people in India,especially in UP. There,such people are called dabangg. I was never comfortable casting Salman as a school-college going brat. The rogue hero image compliments him,and if you look at the audience,they yearn for heroes who can knock out the villains. Personally,I am a fan of heroism and my characters are heroic in nature. They are not ordinary men doing extraordinary things because one cannot relate to that. My characters,people like Robinhood Pandey are mad men,extraordinary men achieving extraordinary feats,” says Kashyap.

Dabangg is an ambitious project,tossed from one producer to another and from one actor to another till it reached the Khans. Kashyap was looking for a rogue,and he found it in Salman. “As the original rogue Khan,Salman fitted the bill. From his looks,personality to his fresh bout of energy,Dabangg is meant to undo every criticism he has faced in the past,” Kashyap says. The film’s promos shows a love-struck Salman in his element,a masala Munni number by Malaika with the badlands of UP as the backdrop. London Dreams and Main Aur Mrs Khanna might have been colossal Box Office disasters,but Tere Naam and Wanted let Salman prove his mettle,roughing up the baddies,saving the day and the damsel.

The film is custom-made for Salman,so is the actress in it. “It was Salman who wanted Sonakshi. I wanted someone who could speak clean Hindi,had a clear diction and an Indian ethnic look,not some babe with pseudo English accent pretending to speak Hindi. She had to be the take-home-to-momma girl,and Salman said Sonakshi is the one,” says Kashyap.

Dabangg is Kashyap’s first film as a director and he requests that there should not be any comparison with his brother Anurag. “He made his own choices and took his own path. It was difficult for him and I would’ve been foolish to walk the same line. I learnt from his mistakes and moved on,” he says,thankful that he has had a smooth ride. “Filmmaking is the only medium which gives you the freedom of expression,individuality and recognition. You are not an invisible in this field,” he signs off.