On Friday, we met Salman Khan’s new discoveries, Zaheer Iqbal and Mohnish Bahl’s daughter Pranutan at Novotel, Juhu, for an interview. Their debut flick Notebook is round the corner. We began by asking them about their characters and how they landed a Salman Khan film.
Spilling the beans on how he got the role, Zaheer told us, “I was dancing at my sister’s wedding and we had made a video, where my sister and her husband were receiving an award, 25 years down the line. I was playing the brother-in-law. Then, there was a sequence, where I had to perform on stage and Salman (Khan) bhai had also arrived at the wedding. He saw my entire performance. And as soon as I got down from stage he offered me a film and said, ‘I think, you belong in front of the camera and you should just leave everything and become an actor.’ SEE VIDEO BELOW.
Spilling the beans on how he got the role, Zaheer told us, “I was dancing at my sister’s wedding and we had made a video, where my sister and her husband were receiving an award, 25 years down the line. I was playing the brother-in-law. Then, there was a sequence, where I had to perform on stage and Salman (Khan) bhai had also arrived at the wedding. He saw my entire performance. And as soon as I got down from stage he offered me a film and said, ‘I think, you belong in front of the camera and you should just leave everything and become an actor.’ SEE VIDEO BELOW.
Pranutan said, “As soon as I completed my education I started auditioning and continued till I got Notebook. I’ve been auditioning since 2.5 years till I met Nitin (Kakkar) sir. Then, I auditioned for my character in Notebook with him for 4-5 hours. When I got a call for this character, I told myself, ‘Please give the best of you, it’s very hard to get a story like this.’ Then I finally got a confirmation call.”
Divulging details about his character, Zaheer said, “Kabir mere se toh bilkul alag hain. He’s very shy, calm and composed. A lot has happened in his life, which is very scary, which has made him the person he is today.” Said Pranutan, “Firdaus is a very matured character, more mature than I am. She’s very calm and loves kids, which I also do, so that’s one similarity.”
The debutantes also spoke of the preparations required for their roles, and how the title Notebook came up. When asked if Salman Khan ever used to visit them on the sets, Zaheer said, “He never came on the sets. He was once going to surprise us, but he couldn’t make it. He has been mentoring me since 6 years and he has taught me a lot of things not only about films, about life, relationship, and friendship. During the shoot, Bhai used to send us 4-5 messages in a day, like, 'How's it going', “How are you doing?' 'Send me the picture of the first shot.' Then, he used to post those pictures on social media.”
While we discussed about the movie in detail, one question that we couldn’t miss out on was nepotism. Pranutan Bahl, who comes from a film family, had this to say, “I feel, if you want to be an actor, like I wanted to be, I have continuously auditioned for 2.5 years and I don’t think I have done something huge. There are thousands of people who want to become an actor. I never used to write my last name, because I didn’t want people to call me for 2ndround of audition just because I am somebody’s daughter or somebody’s granddaughter. Even if you get these opportunities, just because you have a filmy background, then what will happen after 2-3 films? Ultimately talent has to speak, na? And I always wanted it to work this way for me. I was lucky that has it worked out for me that way, I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I was in my struggling phase, I have gone to Galaxy (Salman Khan’s residence) just to tell him, sir I want to be an actor.”
Towards the end, we asked them if there are any dos or don’ts from their families when it comes to a particular role. Pranutan quipped, “Don’t fake it.”
Image Source:- Imdb/ariananews/instagram/iamzahero/pranutan