Ali Abbas Zafar's "Sultan" is unstoppable at the box office and so is its lead actor Salman Khan. Surprisingly, the superstar wasn't the first choice for the sports-drama film.
According to a SpotboyE report, Ali had discussed the project with Arjun Kapoor, after which he excused himself out of it saying he wasn't big on wrestling. However, film producer Yash Raj Films has rubbished the rumours.
"Sultan" is a Salman Khan show from start to finish. His portrayal of Sultan Ali Khan, a emotionally fractured wrestler who hasn't given up hope that he will one day reunite with the love of his life Aarfa (Anushka Sharma), is undoubtedly one of his difficult and better films.
The role required him to be in three body types, which meant drastic physical transformations and also extremely tough. Salman trained to professional wrestlers and martial artists to get their body language right.
I underwent weight training. Then I perfected the moves. I spent 2-3 hours in the day practising those because in the film, I go from the village level akhada to the mat-based ring and then the MMA arena. So I had to do a lot of punching and kicking. I had to be convincing or else I'd look like a fraud," the entertainment portal quoted the actor as saying.
There were quite a few firsts for Salman in the film. He had to wear a langot (loin-cloth) to look convincing. Although he was initially averse to the idea, but later gave into the pressure.
Sharing his experience with the press, the 50-year-old actor said that slipping into the langot made him realise what actresses go through while giving strip shots. From his vanity van to the shoot location, Salman walked in a lungi.
"When I went and removed the lungi people were like 'haye haye'. It was the most difficult thing. Thank god people got used to the visual. People started taking pictures and putting it on websites," the actor elaborated.
