Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, whose "Bharat" has minted over Rs 150 crore at the Indian box office, says he gets scared when film critics praise his work as most of the time he gets validation of his work only from his fans who contribute to his movies' collections.
In an interaction with the media here, Salman said: "I get scared when critics praise my work because usually their thinking does not match with mine or that of my audience. So I wonder why are they giving stars to my film and writing good things about my work?"
"Having said that, in recent times, the kind of films that I have done, I did those because I loved those stories. Also when I do a film, I have a few parameters... I want people to come to the theatre, forget their worries and when they leave the theatre, become happy, with a sense of heroism, or become a better human being... at least (have) the thought of (being) a better human being."
"Even if I want to give a message through a film, it should come between the lineS, and not like a preachy long lecture...then that is going to be so boring. There's no fun and entertainment there," added the actor, who had earlier received praise from critics for his performance in films like "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Sultan".
Who is his biggest critic?
"My father is the greatest critic of my work. So he said, ‘Ab bhul jao, so jao... picture bahut badi hit hai (Now forget about it, go to sleep... the film is a hit)' but that is it, he will not come and praise my performance in front of me. I never get a chance to hear any compliment from him. Very rarely, he says, ‘Achha kaam kia (you've done well)'. Nothing more than that," shared the son of iconic screenplay writer Salim Khan, who co-wrote several successful films including "Sholay" and "Deewar" with Javed Akhtar.
After experiencing highs and lows in a career spanning over 25 years, Salman says scoring success continues to be of importance to him.
"The success of every film is very important for me, really. ‘Bharat' is one film that we have given our life for...it happens with all my other films too. I believed in the film... I am really happy right now that fans are liking the film and I really appreciate that. Actually, they liked everyone's performance in the film...it's great."
Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, the film's story begins in 1947 and traces the journey of a man. Salman sports six different looks ranging from a young circus champion to a 60-year-old man.
He says there were several scenes in the film that made him emotional while performing them.
Salman does not indulge in method acting. Sharing how he prepares himself before any emotional scene, he said: "If I do not feel a scene, if I do not get the emotion right, I cannot fake it and make the other person feel the same emotion.
"So if the scene is not relatable for me, I will sit down with the writer and director for a discussion, we will try and improve the scene so that I convince myself. But listen, that is the quality of a bad actor that I have.
"If you give any scene, even if that is the most ridiculous scene to an actor like (Amitabh) Bachchan saab or Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar), they literally own the scene and make it look convincing. They can get the right amount of emotion, comedy or anything from even a bad scene. But for me, I really have to work on these things," replied Salman.
Known as their favourite ‘Bhaijaan' among his fans who has a daredevil image, the actor said even he has his share of fears, but he believes in dealing with them from the front.
"Even I have fears, but we all have to face our fears. I think the best way to deal with it is to go into the fear zone, cross it and come out of it to the other side. If you are running away from your fear, it will run along with you... it will catch up to you and you will become scared to fight it. So when one has a fear, it should be dealt with. I also do the same," he said.