‘Salman Will Add His Naughtiness’

‘I
go
to
Salmanbhai
every
day
before
the
shoot.’
‘I
write
straight
scenes,
simple
scenes.’
‘He
will
read
them
and
add
a
little
bit
of
spice.’

Sooraj
Barjatya
dabbles
with
OTT
for
the
first
time,
with
the
Web
series,



Bada
Naam
Karenge
and
he
feels
that
urban
audiences


don’t
know
India.

Barjatya,
who
spent
a
career
making
family
dramas,
most
of
them
set
in
smaller
towns,
shares
how
he
understands
this
milieu
so
well.

He
rewinds
his
career,
and
also
discusses
the
man
he
helped
make
a
superstar,
Salman
Khan.

After
working
in
films
like

Maine
Pyaar
Kiya,
Hum
Saath
Saath
Hai,
Hum
Aapke
Hain
Koun…!
and

Prem
Ratan
Dhan
Payo,
Sooraj
and
Salman
are
doing
another
film
together.

“It
will
take
more
time
because
things
have
to
be
written
as
per
our
age
now.
Things
need
to
be
done
according
to
Salmanbhai‘s
age
to
do
justice
to
him,”
Sooraj
informs

Patcy
N/Rediff.com.

What
is
the
progress
on
your
new
film
with
Salman
Khan?

It
will
take
more
time
because
things
have
to
be
written
as
per
our
age
now.

Things
need
to
be
done
according
to
Salmanbhai‘s
age
to
do
justice
to
him.

But
I
will
announce
my
next
film
next
month.
It
will
not
be
with
Salmanbhai.
It’s
a
smaller
film
and
the
subject
is
very
dear
to
me.

Apart
from

Uncchai,
all
the
male
leads
in
your
film
have
been
named
Prem.
Not
just
Salman
but
also
Hrithik
Roshan
and
Shahid
Kapoor.
In
fact,
even
Sonu
Sood
was
named
that
in
your
production,

Ek
Vivah
Aisa
Bhi.
Is
there
a
reason
for
doing
so?

No,
no.
Wherever
I
find
that
the
character
suits
the
values
of
Prem,
I
have
used
it.

Prem
essentially
is
a
family
boy,
whose
day
starts
with
ease
and
whose
night
ends
with
ease,
who
has
not
seen
much
ups
and
downs
in
life,
who
is
a
carefree,
happy,
good
to
everyone,
a
little
flirt,
a
little
naughtiness,
who
enjoys
festivities,
functions,
being
with
the
family…

Such
a
character
we
end
up
calling
Prem
from
the
scripting
process.

Unchai
belonged
to
a
different
age
group,
to
deeper
things.
It
had
characters
who
had
seen
life,
who
have
seen
death,
who
have
seen
solitude.

How
did
you
cope
with
a
failure
like

Main
Prem
Ki
Diwani
Hoon?

Like
any
other
person.

It
was
not
a
failure
but
yes,
it
did
not
get
that
kind
of
appreciation.
It
teaches
you
a
lot.

Main
Prem
Ki
Diwani
Hoon
will
be
my
biggest
teacher
because
it
made
me
trust
that
to
make
what
I
am
good
at
rather
than
what
sells.

It
showed
me
that
you
should
do
what
you
are
good
at.

It
made
me
shut
my
expectations
and
listen
to
my
soul.

Then
I
came
up
with

Vivah
and
I’m
so
happy
that
it
put
me
back
on
track.

You
have
worked
with
Salman
Khan
in
four
blockbusters.
What
is
that
understanding
between
you
two?
How
has
that
improved
over
the
years?

It
is
the
same.

When
you
start
together,
you
know
each
other
in
and
out.

Salmanbhai
keeps
telling
me,
‘Soorajbabu,
wohi
karte
hai
jo
pehle
kiya
tha.’

Let’s
go
at
an
easy
pace,
make
the
world
slow,
just
relax,
let’s
show
niceness.

That’s
the
world
I
know
and
he
says,
let’s
keep
doing
that.

Our
working
style
is
very
simple.

I
go
to
him
every
day
before
the
shoot.

I
write
straight
scenes,
simple
scenes.

He
will
read
them
and
add
a
little
bit
of
spice.
He
will
add
his
naughtiness;
that’s
how
these
scenes
work.

He
knows
exactly
how
I
will
shoot.
He
knows
which
shot
will
come
next
because
we
have
worked
more
than
600-700
days
together
on
set.

It’s
never
an
actor-director
(relationship).
It’s
more
like
brothers,
where
we
try
to
help
each
other
create
niceness
on
screen.

In
2023,
you
launched
your
son
Avnish
with
your
production,

Dono.
He
directed
the
romcom,
starring
debutant
star
kids,
Sunny
Deol’s
son
Rajvir
and
Poonam
Dhillon’s
daughter
Paloma.
But
the
film
didn’t
do
well.
Was
it
a
setback
for
the
company
as
well
as
for
Avnish?

When
I
started,
my
father
told
me
this
is
a
profession
where
there
will
be
hits
and
failures.

He
said,
keep
your
originality.

I
was
fortunate
to
get
a
hit
at
(my)
first
(attempt).

My
pitch
to
my
son
was
the
same
thing:
Hits
and
flops
will
come,
stick
to
originality.

I’m
very
happy
and
proud
that
he
kept
the
Rajshri
ideology
at
the
back
of
his
mind
and
made
his
own
voice.

This
is
not
Sooraj’s
voice.

With
his
next,
he’ll
go
farther.
He
will
take
Rajshri
much
beyond
me.

We
will
start
his
film
as
soon
as
he’s
ready.

Any
career
regrets?

No.
But
I
should
have
made
more
films
over
these
35
years
rather
than
just
seven.

<

Why
didn’t
you
make
more?

I
tend
to
write
myself
and
it’s
not
easy
to
make
things
look
natural
on
screen
where
families
are
concerned.

It
takes
time
to
make
it
look
natural
for
everyone
to
feel,
‘Oh,
this
is
my
world,
this
is
my

mami‘s
world,
my

bua‘s
world.’

I
do
everything
myself
—
the
music,
the
choreography…
As
a
director,
I’m
involved
at
every
stage.

With
the
OTT
Web
series,
we
will
be
able
to
say
more
stories
faster.