Sonali Kulkarni on playing Salman Khan's mother in Bharat despite being 9 years younger: ‘Was paid well’
Here's the latest update from the Bollywood world:
Sonali Kulkarni is nine years younger than Salman Khan , but she played his mother in Ali Abbas Zafar'ss movie Bharat . Sonali is 51, while Salman is 60 years old. In a recent interaction, Sonali opened up about her decision to play a much older character in the movie.
Adding to this, Sonali Kulkarni played Salman Khan's mother in Bharat. 'A lot of convincing' In conversation with SCREEN, she admitted that during the casting process, she felt she “can’t be playing this role”. However, Ali Abbas Zafar and casting director Mukesh Chhabra were “very sure” about her casting and convinced her to take up the role. They argued that her character was important because of the emphasis placed on the flashback sequences.
Meanwhile, She shared, “The flashback meant everything to that movie. That’s how Bharat gets his name and reacts to situations. No director or casting director would like to fit in a wrong person somewhere. That would be a failure on their part also. So, I tried to understand that. So, I took it up as a challenge.”
Notably, Sonali Kulkarni shared that it still took “a lot of convincing” on both their parts. She also admitted that it was her 'temptation' to meet Salman Khan that encouraged her to play the role. Speaking about her experience of working with the superstar, she shared, “We bonded very well on the sets of Bharat. One can learn from him to treat people well. He was ever gracious. And he scored a point when he gave me his cycle to ride."
As per the latest buzz, Sonali also added the role paid her “really well”, she did her maximum scenes with the child artiste who played the young Salman in the movie.
In further updates, The movie is directed and co-written by Ali Abbas Zafar. It stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover, Jackie Shroff, Disha Patani and Tabu. The movie received positive reviews from critics and audiences. It was also a box-office success and was among the highest-grossing films of 2019. It grossed ₹ 325.58 crore rupees during its lifetime theatrical run.
On top of that, Salman Khan has Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace, earlier titled Battle of Galwan, in the pipeline. Directed by Apoorva Lakhia, the movie also stars Chitrangda Singh and is backed by Salman Khan Films. A new poster rolled out in July indicated that the movie remains slated for a 2026 rollout, although an exact theatrical date has not been revealed.
Salman is also set to star in the yet-to-be-titled SVC63, directed by Vamshi Paidipally. The movie marks his collaboration with South Indian star Nayanthara, while Anil Kapoor is also part of the cast. The action drama is currently expected to rollout on Eid in 2027.
Source: Hindustan Times