Last night the cast of London Dreams caught up with the media across the globe live from the Big Apple. Salman Khan, Asin, Ranvijay, Aditya and Vipul Shah were all due to face questions from the press at a video conference. After having had London Dreams songs on a loop for 20 minutes well past the stated time and hearing the mic test and Salman whistling in the background, the Q & A session finally kicked off. And were we glad!
Ajay Devgn unfortunately couldn't make it as he was busy shooting a climax scene for another project. But just a few minutes into the meet, we realised we didn't miss him at all. Salman was enough. The bad boy of Bollywood had us oscillating between splits and 'being human'. He spiked everybody's response with applause, wise cracks and also flashed his humane side. He stopped short of taking off his shirt though.
A media person was quite insistent that Salman flaunt his muscular torso. An abashed Salman tried to dodge the invite. And when he figured it wasn't working, pretended not to hear. The persistence didn't flag till he said, "there are too many men in this room." To which, a female reporter chipped in, "we can ask them to leave." Seeing Salman blush is truly precious.
He fielded questions on his character in the movie, his character in real life and comparisons to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam with humour intact.
Were you able to relate to the character, Salman?
My name is Manu in the film. He’s obnoxious, crude, vulgar, and a flirt. I don't know if I can relate to somebody like that," said Salman with a smirk. "He's all heart. And the film's shaped up well. I said that about Main Aurr Mrs Khanna as well, except that people didn't want to come and watch the film.London Dreams has high romance, high energy. I would call it a musicalSholay."
How is it different from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam? How is it different between Ajay and you?
Different in name, different director, made 10 years back. She gets married to Ajay. Here...it's me. The music is way better. It is visually and emotionally stronger. This film is about friendship, ambition, and jealousy. That film was about romance. This film is about friends and how they get over their hurdles.”
Do you and Ajay have the same vibe in real life?
We've known each other a very long time. He won't bitch. He’s a no bullshit kinda person. He keeps to himself. But he's always playing pranks. He's a funny guy. Ajay even pulled a prank on Asin.
Asin confirms this by chipping in and narrating her experience. Ajay Devgn had apparently gotten a body builder to try and "scare the hell out of her". With a, "Sorry, Ajay," Asin revealed that his plans flopped.
The actress seems to have been a favourite on the sets when it came to pulling pranks. Aditya exclaimed how much fun he and Ranvijay had "pulling Asin's leg". But also gave her due credit: "She's a tough nut to crack."
But is she a tough nut on screen? Is her role limited to dancing and singing?
Asin lays the misconception to rest. "I'm glad to have been chosen for the role of Priya. There are a few similarities. She's a south Indian. I relate to her because she grows up in London, but is born to Iyer parents. She has a desire to express herself through dance, which is quite similar to my passion. However, she doesn't get the opportunity to do so at home. So she rebels and gets a rock chick look. Here I would like to say that neither am I conservative at home nor as wild when I step out. She's a solo lead. Hers is an important role in taking the movie forward and the friends."
Salman who applauded to pretty much everyone's reply, clapped loudest for Asin. However, on being queried about the work experience with Asin, Salman kept it short and simple: “Ok, seriously. Just ok.”
Asin predictably gets down to slapping him playfully and exclaiming.
But sadly she didn’t extend this to her answer on the working-with-Salman-experience. She went sentimental, but not before Salman her "spokesperson" answered for her, "Out of the world!"
"It was the most enjoyable working experience in my career so far. I'm happy. It's come out brilliantly. I'm slightly pained that I'm not going to be shooting with them anymore. They're all fabulous co-stars," said the actress.
She wasn't let off the hook just yet. Out of Aamir, Salman and Ajay who's the most professional?
"Aamir obviously," said Salman. Asin picked up with, "All of them have their traits. They all are professionals otherwise they wouldn't be where they are...hugely popular stars. I gelled with all of them."
There was one more Salman comparison question to go. Ajay & Salman. Who's better?
"I can't judge. They do justice to their roles. I see only Ajay playing Ajay's role and Salman his," Asin said.
The panache Asin lacked, Salman made up for. He tackled every question like King Kong would a biplane, even the ones that came for Ajay Devgn.
How do you plan to combat piracy of London Dreams? Blue and What's Your Rashee have been hit by it.
No one expected Salman to break out into an impassioned bashing of piracy. "We work so hard. To deprive us, and the government of revenue is disgusting! It's not those who can't afford to watch a movie. It's those who can who do it. How can you make money off someone else's hard work? It's disgusting. We need tougher laws. One guy should go to jail for a long time and things will change. It's just plain disgusting."
On a lighter vein he stated his self-assessment over the years with self praise. "Amazing. There's no comparison at all to Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. We've risen. No can do the character like I do," he said in mock pride.
But the same Salman Khan lost his alacrity when it came to pop music.
Jay Sean, a South Asian, is currently ruling the pop charts. With London Dreams how do you feel Indian music is incorporating more international sounds?
A befuddled Salman admitted that he wasn't a fan of pop. And that he's still stuck in the 1960s with a little bit of Bangra thrown in. He said his li'l sister Arpita however, would be able to answer this question.
Vipul Shah managed to bag a couple of questions by virtue of being the director.
What's special about London Dreams?
"It's a unique story. In the recent past there hasn't been a movie with great human drama. It's the story of two friends on the backdrop of music. They fall in love with the same girl. It's about how they fulfill their dream.
”We have an amazing team, with Shankar, Ehsan, Loy and Prasoon Joshi. As for the star cast, I couldn't have asked for anything better. I got the exact actors I wanted. It's been a dream run for me. Hope it's successful."
Shah got flustered by the Rock On comparison. On wondering aloud ifLondon Dreams is in the same vein as Rock On that talks about a struggling band as well, Shah lashed out with, "Rock On came out in the recent past. I'm not a fool to make a similar story. Rock on was made for a particular segment. London Dreams is made for all, in India, abroad, everywhere.
”The way we've shot the concerts, it's the first time you'd see something this big. Some International folks we showed it to were impressed with the scale."
Shah also explained the way he shot the brilliant concert scene at the Wembley. It wasn't in fact, the Wembley. They shot the exterior and put up sets of the interior in Mumbai. But 10,000 of the crowd are real people with CG multiplying the numbers.
Considering Shah already has Namaste London to his credit and now London Dreams, one wondered if he wrote the script around London. He assured us that that wasn't the case and he was game for New York too provided the script has scope for it.
A question for Ajay on his supposed negative role in the upcoming flick, was fielded by Shah. "Ajay does have gray shades. But when someone chooses someone as pure as Manu as his best friend, you can't be negative. Jealousy does creep in. But he's gray, not black. The complexity of the character will become clear when you see film.”
While Ranvijay and Aditya made their presence felt by chipping in with the others, they had only two questions directed at them. Queried about their experience on working with big stars such as Salman, Asin and Ajay, they took their opportunity to gush .
"Wonderful," exclaimed Aditya. "I got to play the guitar in Albert Hall. It was a thing of dreams." Ranvijay piped in with, "we were pampered on the sets. It was a holiday! Whenever we went out, Salman used to leave the room door open for us and the food would be by the microwave after we got back from partying till 4:30 am."
”And Vipul sir is the best actor we've seen. Even if we'd do half as good as him, it would be great! And we loved pulling Asin's leg!" To which Asin retorted, "I've given it back in equal measure which they're not admitting now."
The clichéd question on their dreams that was bound to crop up sooner or later thanks to the title, came towards the end of the meet. Asin dished out how being in the entertainment industry is her dream with regard to work. Vipul Shah admitted that his original dream was to be an actor but "better dreams have been achieved." Ranvijay wants to makes his parents proud. And Aditya joked that he wanted to be a cricketer and now that he has a shot at acting, doesn't want to mess it up. But the most poignant of the lot came from Salman.
"My dream is to have pleasant dreams. I have bad dreams. I don't sleep anyway. Go out there and achieve what you want. You'll have lots of time to dream when you're dead," said the actor.
This wasn't the only instance where Sallu allowed us to peek into his persona behind the screen. On Being Human, his philanthropic venture, he said that it wasn't a ploy to cover his past deeds or repent. "No one thought I'd make it. I was the black sheep of the family. Now I have made it because people love me and pay to watch me. I want to give back now. It's a defect inherited from my father. Generosity has always been there even when I didn't have money. I'd probably feel the pinch when I don't have it. People might think I'm doing this to clear my image. I'm just doing it for myself because I want to."
The press meet ended with a question unrelated to London Dreams. How does one get in touch with Being Human? Salman assured us that the website will be launched next month and all the details we seek will be provided for.
Salman earlier said that he didn't undertake any preparation for the role of Manu as the character’s all heart and rustic. That's the Salman we got to see in this tete-a-tete - all heart and all play. Going by the fun quotient and profound emotions that Salman brought out in this chat, London Dreams is bound to be a blast!
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