Kabir Khan, director of the 2009 film 'New York', revealed that Salman Khan played a pivotal role in convincing his then-girlfriend, Katrina Kaif, to sign film.
The Indian filmmaker, Kabir Khan, directed some of the most popular films in Bollywood. Ek Tha Tiger, New York, Kabul Express, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and Tubelight, are among his notable works. Recently, the 55-year-old filmmaker graced Mukesh Chhabra’s show, The Bombay Dream, and shared several anecdotes from his sets. During the conversation, Kabir made a startling revelation about Katrina Kaif.
The Ek Tha Tiger director mentioned that when he started working on New York, Aditya Chopra suggested to him that he should cast Katrina Kaif as ‘Maya’. For those who don’t know, Katrina debuted in the film industry in 2003, but it was the 2005 romantic comedy, Maine Pyaar Kyu Kiya? that made her famous. Kabir’s 2009 film, New York was Katrina’s first Yash Raj film, but the director said that the actress was a bit hesitant at first. Recalling those days, Kabir said:
“When Katrina came in, this was going to be her first film with Yash Raj, so she came, and I think, she was a little disappointed by the film when she heard it. She was wanting to hear maybe a love story, song and dance, and she was like ‘what kind of film is this?”
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Further in the conversation, Kabir Khan said that years after Katrina had told him that her ex-boyfriend, Salman Khan, had actually convinced her to do the film. The director revealed that while he was working on his first feature film, Kabul Express, he got a chance to meet Salman, and that ultimately helped him in casting Katrina in New York. In his words:
“Those days, she was seeing Salman. Salman asked her ‘how was the meeting?’ She said ‘There is a new filmmaker who has made one film and he offered me a film. It’s interesting, but I don’t know.’ Salman asked ‘Who is the filmmaker?’ so she said ‘there’s this guy called Kabir Khan’. So apparently, Salman said ‘Aankh band karke picture sign kar lo, I have met the boy.’ It’s so sweet that he remembered that one meeting.”
Kabir Khan also recalled the time he was shooting the film with John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, and Katrina Kaif. He mentioned that they shot the film in New York for 100 days. Kabir also shared that Katrina used to call him ‘sir’, and the director was so done with it that he said, “Yaar, your boyfriend is four years older than me. Please don’t call me sir.” Further, he recalled that during the first 20 days of the shoot, he used to call Katrina ‘Kareena’, and then he became so used to it that while shooting for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he would call Kareena ‘Katrina’.
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Previously, during an interview with Mid-Day, Katrina Kaif had opened up about working in Kabir Khan’s film, New York. The actress revealed that initially, she had reservations regarding the scale of the film, but with Salman’s encouragement, she said yes to the film, and it turned out to be a life-changing experience for her. In her words:
“I did say yes to the film. I very begrudgingly walked onto the set in New York. And I’m walking onto this, as in my mind, slightly arty film. I was gritting my teeth. I was like, this is seeming like a very quaint production. That turned very quickly into when the film schedule wrapped in New York, it had been the most incredible experience of my entire life up until then. All of us, we were crying to leave. And it was crying, like really genuine heartbreak for that experience to get over. My closest friends in my life are all the friends I made on that film till date.”
What are your thoughts on Kabir Khan’s revelations related to Katrina Kaif and Salman Khan? Let us know.
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