Ali Abbas Zafar: I’ll Be Expected To Deliver Bigger Film After ‘Sultan’

Director Ali Abbas Zafar knows his latest release Sultan, starring Salman Khan, would not just give him a standing as a filmmaker but also raise people’s expectations from him.

“The pressure, will Sultan touch 400 crore… Will it cross Rs 500 crore, is mounting. It’s not getting to me. I know ‘Sultan‘ gives me certain standing as a filmmaker. I also know what some great man said about success — that with power comes responsibility,” Zafar said.

“I’ll be expected to deliver an even bigger film after ‘Sultan‘. I don’t want to think about this. I am just happy that the film has connected with the audience. And when a real life wrestler like Sangram Singh says Salman looks authentic doing the wrestling moves, I feel we have achieved what we set out to do,” he added.

“When people say ‘Sultan’ will do to wrestling what ‘Chak De! India‘ did to hockey, I feel elated. It takes a star like Salman or Shah Rukh Khan to get audiences into the theatre to watch a film about a game that isn’t cricket or football,” Zafar said.

He feels Sultan connects with equal vigour with audiences in both the non-urban and urban centres.

“There is that ‘mitti ki khushboo’ in the presentation. And audiences have sensed it. It’s embedded in the game of wrestling. If I had made a film about, say fencing or boxing, I don’t think it would have had the same impact. Every Indian identifies with wrestling. Kushti is a sport we all know.”