Entertainer foremost
The countdown has already begun as Himmatwala readies for its big end-of-month release. Sajid Khan has a million details to attend to, as its promotional campaign kicks off into high gear. But he still finds the time to talk to us about the film, his leading pair Ajay Devgn and Tamannaah Bhatia and more.
We’re curious to know why unlike most filmmakers, Sajid hasn’t called Himmatwala “A Sajid Khan film”. Instead, it has the rather more grand sounding, “A Sajid Khan entertainer”.
Sajid says with a smile, “But then my films are meant to entertain, and it is the only route I believe in taking. Whether it is Heyy Babyy, Housefull or Housefull 2, each of them has been an entertainer, seen and enjoyed by entire families. Himmatwala too has been made keeping this factor in mind. Yes, I am aware that others tag their films differently, but I think it’s better to call mine ‘A Sajid Khan entertainer’.”
Doesn’t that sound a little too confident, considering the audience has huge expectations from a film that has been declared an out-an-out entertainer? Sajid agrees, but points out that confidence is different from arrogance. “I am not confident about cooking a good meal, winning a beauty contest or winning a 100-metre dash. However, I know that my cinema will work for the audience because I make it for the audience. This is not something that anyone can take away from me. Even if some people misinterpret that as immodesty, it doesn’t bother me,” he says.
In Himmatwala, Sajid teams up with his college buddy Ajay, and the director is unstinting in his praise: “Ajay is a director’s delight. I don’t think there is any role he cannot do. In this film, Ajay has been presented as Amitabh Bachchan by Manmohan Desai.”
His leading lady Tamannaah also comes in for a fair share of praise. “I had my eyes set on someone big in the South — this is something I was superstitious about. When I told Vashu (Bhagnani) that, he got in touch with Tamannaah’s father. Within a day, she was signed — without me even seeing a single film of hers,” Sajid says.
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