Salman Khan is looking forward to the release of his upcoming film Antim: The Final Truth that also stars his brother-in-law Aayush Sharma opposite him. For the first time Salman is playing a Sikh cop who does not have a female lead opposite him. However, the actor maintains that the character is different from his other cop roles of Dabangg, Wanted, Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai etc. In a group interview, Salman spoke about the character that was developed and given a whole character arc from the original Marathi film Mulshi Pattern from which it is inspired from. Speaking about whether he is developing his own cop universe, Salman elaborated on what makes his character of Inspector Rajveer Singh different from his earlier cop roles.
Speaking about his character, Salman said that he was told about the plot of the film by his Dabangg DOP but the role stayed with him even though in the original film it was a small part. He said, “Mujhe yeh cop ka character bahut acha laga tha, unhone yeh character adhura chod diya tha, so maine yeh cop ke point-of-view se picture banayi. I liked this subject, this was something that was stuck in my head. I was told ‘ki yeh kya hai chota sa role hai’ but I was like ‘nahi this is not a small role’. I worked on the script with Mahesh (Manjrekar) and we only took the plot of the original film but made it our own with a different screenplay and lavishly mounted film. Here the budget is large, has action, emotion, drama and a film that has a nice gritty story too.”
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Salman further said, "Arbaaz got to know that Mahesh Manjrekar was making a film. When I got a chance to see it, I wondered, 'Why did they leave the cop's character like that?' It was about that other boy and it became an eccentric film. I could not play this character like Dabangg. Otherwise, I would be left doing ‘Dabangg’ only. This is a different film altogether. My character is very bound, he is very Hindustani and rugged. Antim has the seriousness of Garv, Rajveer is very rugged and grounded. Even if he has to sacrifice a person, he will do it for what is right. This is what I liked about this character. In the Marathi film, they just had 4-5 scenes of him. He is not yelling or shouting, he takes order, gets humiliated but yet does his own thing. He is extremely focused in what he needs to do at the right time. He will show his emotions but will do his duty. That is what I liked about the character. He is larger-than-life but is realistic. Another thing about him was the fact that he looked best alone and hence we did not give him a heroine. He is jovial, he is not a khadoos but is a man with whom you can’t mess with. He is someone who tolerates but waits for his chance to make a comeback.”
Talking about making his own cop universe, Salman said, "I did think of that. I thought I was overdoing the cop roles, but I really liked the subject in Antim." Antim: The Final Truth is directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and also stars Mahima Makwana in the lead. The film is scheduled to release on November 26, 2021 in theatres.
(Transcribed By: Vandana Srivastawa)
