Sooraj Barjatya says film with Salman Khan will ‘take some time’, calls the superstar a ‘family man’: ‘What he projects sometimes is something else’
Filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya says in his long-time collaborator and friend Salman Khan, he has found a relationship that goes beyond movies. It is an equation of jokes, stories, encouragement and above all, respect. Khan’s juggernaut personality, which often single handedly powers through his macho-actioners, is in stark contrast to the world of Barjatya, who has only placed him in multiple versions of a loveable, innocent, soft man Prem.
In an interview with , the filmmaker says their collaboration–from Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Hum Saath-Saath Hain to Prem Ratan Dhan Payo– has been of family films because Salman Khan, unknown to many, is “the family guy.”
“Honestly there are months when we don’t talk or meet. He is also busy; I keep to myself when I am writing. But we keep talking and he keeps encouraging me to make more films. He keeps encouraging me to make more family films. He says, ‘Let’s make what we used to make, bring back that.’ He trusts me with the family films.
“Essentially, if you ask me, he is a family guy. If you go into the core of Salman Khan, what he projects sometimes is something else because essentially, he is that elder son who loves his brothers, sers and respects his parents so much. I have never seen someone more respectful than him,” Barjatya says.
The filmmaker says he was in the middle of writing a film for the superstar but when the pandemic happened, he started drifting towards another project, Uunchai- a film about three friends in their 60s, on a mission to scale Mount Everest.
“When I was writing a film for him, I told him that I have voice which is asking me to make Uunchai. He laughed and said, ‘Sooraj where will you go, this is not your style!’ But the voice in me was too strong and he understood, encouraged me. He recently saw the trailer and told me he loved it. Our relationship is beyond filmmaking.”
The filmmaker says the idea of him collaborating with Khan is with the awareness that they should “create something that we can leave behind, something with a lot of family values.” After Uunchai, he will dive into the production of his younger son Avnish’s directorial and will then focus on the film with Khan.
“I have a version written, the structure is there, but there is still for that to begin. I will require some more time for the project because if I am working with him, it has to be special. The film is in the family space. Till then I am busy as a producer with my younger son Avnish’s movie, starring Rajveer and Paloma. It is another director after 30 years coming from Rajshri so it is a big responsibility,” he added.
