‘My father is my go-to man’

His career in front of the camera may have never worked wonders for him, but his turn as a producer sure seems to be reaping many benefits for Arbaaz Khan. He has a successful Dabangg franchise in his folio and now all eyes are on his next, Dolly Ki Doli. He seems to have a thing for comedies and the Dabangg films too had their own share of humour despite the kicks and punches.

Arbaaz says, “Yes, I enjoy comedies but for me it is not about the genre I’m attracted to. I made Dabangg, which is an action musical. Dolly Ki Doli is a drama-comedy. For me the film needs to be engaging. Whether it’s a thriller, romance or horror, if it’s not engaging, no genre will work. The only genre I’m not fascinated by is science fiction because that area has not been explored much in Indian films and I don’t know how the audience would react. But I’m open to other genres, whenever I find an interesting script.”

Arbaaz makes no bones of the fact that his family members are deeply involved in his work and he turns to them for inputs. “My family members are part of every film that I make. Their contribution does not only come in the form of creative inputs; even the emotional confidence that they give, goes a long way in the making of a film. That matters. That is all you need. They are my support system that I rely on. My dad is the first one I approach — his experience is invaluable and how he views things is very unique. Not just my professional life, even about my personal life, if I need an opinion, he is my go-to man. Then of course there is Salman, who has a vision on most work matters,” Arbaaz says.

Having grown up in a film family, one would imagine them to not have been star-struck much. But Arbaaz recalls a few instances to the contrary, when he and his brothers Salman and Sohail were star struck. “We were studying in boarding school in Gwalior at that time. I was in the class VI and Salman in class VII. We were supposed to attend the premiere of Trishul. So my father picked us up from school. When we reached Mumbai the next day, we headed straight to the premiere in our school blazers. That’s where we saw all the stars — Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Sanjeev Kumar, Amjad Khan and many more.

Amitabh Bachchan has had a long association with my father — they have done about 11 films together when he was a writer with Javed saab. That time I would frequently see Mr Bachchan when he would visit our home. We would call our friends home, so they could see him too. It was a great feeling. That time nobody had a phone or a handycam. We just used to approach these actors for autographs.”

 Coming back to his film Dolly Ki Doli, his leading lady Sonam has tried something that’s far removed from her fashionista image. “Sonam is a very stylish girl and the way she conducts herself, she has an obvious image of a fashionista. That’s a role she can carry off very well. But her actual strength lies in the fact that she carries off desi roles very well. Whether it’s Bhaag Milkha Bhaag or Raanjhanaa, she has been appreciated a lot in Indian roles. Even in Delhi 6 she was the girl next door. That is also probably the reason Sooraj Barjatya has cast her in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo,” says Arbaaz.

Speaking about other actors that he plans to cast in upcoming movies he says, “I’m particularly fond of Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan. I think they are very promising actors and very watchable onscreen. I would like to work with them next.” He may be neck deep in production, but that has not let acting take a backseat. He will soon be making a comeback as an actor in Abbas-Mastan’s next film, that has funnyman Kapil Sharma in the lead. Arbaaz smiles and says, “I had no reason to not do the film. Abbas-Mastan have approached me after 20 years. I did my first film Daraar with them in 1994 and in 2014 they wanted me to do a role that is opposite of what I did in the earlier film. This time they want me to play a deaf don, a comic character. From an aggressive, abusive wife beater in Daraar to this character now — it has been quite a leap.” This takes us back to the days of his debut.

Arbaaz continues, “When Daraar was being made, the concept seemed novel. But by the time it released, Agni Saakshi and Yaraana, two films on a similar topic about a woman being traumatised by a man in her life, had already come out. That is one thing you can’t control even as a filmmaker. You don’t know who’s making what. It had a fresh cast and was well made but the concept had become dated by the time it was finished. If that film had done well, maybe my career would have taken off in a different way.”

But now that his career has finally taken off as a filmmaker, we can’t help but ask him about Dabangg 3. “Dabangg 3 is something Salman and I have given a lot of thought to. But it’s premature for me to say when will it happen,” he says. Arbaaz continues, “Dabangg is such a loved franchise. People do love Chulbul Pandey. Salman and I are aware of the fact that we will have to treat the film in a particular way. We just can’t put a number 3 and make it. We have to ideate, go back to the drawing board to decide how we should go about it. We want the next one to be the best Dabangg of all time.”