Arbaaz Khan is back with a new talk show named The Invincibles Series. The actor-producer interviews famous yesteryear celebs in it. The Free Press Journal caught up with him for an exclusive chat. Excerpts:
After Quick Heal Pinch, this is your second talk show. Where did you get so much enthusiasm and courage from?
We have to live up to certain challenges, we have to be around and stay relevant to the time. People need to see you since there is a lot of competition. Not that it bothers me but I have to look at how I am progressing in life. Things are moving slowly but in a direction. With the kind of response I am getting for the show, I am too tempted to do the next season.
How did the idea of getting the yesteryear’s artistes on your show come to you?
The idea to get them all came by looking at my father (Salim Khan). He has done so much in life and keeps telling so much to us and we keep imbibing as much as we can but I felt it should be documented. It needed to be archived and future generations in our family should know where our history comes from. I didn’t want to do a dinner table talk casually rather shoot it professionally in a studio with a four camera setup.
Go on…
I thought, why stop at him? There are so many other people around me. There have been so many people who had done great work like Dev (Anand) sahab and Raj Kapoor. Many singers and directors have died, we only know them through a song or a film and a couple of interviews here and there. If this show can inspire people to respect these legends, I would feel fortunate. I can’t document everyone though. Helen aunty was not very easy to get onto the show.
How was the whole experience with your stepmom Helen?
When I approached her, she straight away said no. She didn’t want to talk about her personal life. She felt who would be interested in her life. Then I requested her to wait and see dad’s interview. It was like a pilot to get her approval. I wanted to keep it very candid. I even told if after shooting it, you won’t like it, I would scrap it. I was ready to bear every cost attached to it.
Have you reinvented yourself after being a talk show host now?
I feel, the kind of conversationalist I am, it comes by default and very naturally to me. People might have thought I am quite affable and natural as a host. My film image was way different since people couldn’t see my personal side while I played characters. How Salman Khan bounced back with Dus Ka Dum and Mr Amitabh Bachchan with Kaun Banega Crorepati, even their film careers revived post these television reality shows. It’s only about the demeanours. Shah Rukh Khan couldn’t pull it off.
Why do you say so about Shah Rukh Khan?
I think he couldn’t bring niceness and naturalism to the small screen. People must have found him fake. There were two people. At the end of the day, you can’t be fake in front of television or you have to be very smart like Amitabh Bachchan. He knows his audience but Shah Rukh Khan couldn’t do it.
