Bharat, not Hindustan

The buzz surrounding director Ali Abbas Zafar’s upcoming Salman Khan-starrer Bharat just refuses to die down, with new rumours cropping up every day. According to the latest reports, the film’s title has been changed to Hindustan, and the schedule that was to have been shot in London will be shot in Punjab instead.

Curious to know if there was any truth to rumours, we went right to the captain of the ship, Ali, and all he was willing to tell us, through a single word text “Nahin”, was that the title was not being changed to Hindustan.

When we enquired about the change in shoot location, all we received was radio silence.

Bharat will be Ali’s third film with Salman. The two have previously collaborated on Sultan and Tiger Zinda Hai. In one of our earlier interviews with him, the director had said, “Yes! After having done two films with Salman, I do share a very comfortable rapport with Bhai.”

His upcoming film is an official adaptation of the South Korean drama Ode To My Father. Talking about the project, Ali had said, “No aspect of Salman Khan’s real-life relationship with his father Salim Khan has been incorporated in the film; it is work of fiction. But since it’s an emotional saga, Salman may add something in his performance to connect with the audience.”

The director recently tweeted, “Countdown to @Bharat_TheFilm shoot begins :) super excited , same technical team of #Sultan & #TZH comes together for a Reel Life production @atulreellife and #Tseries . Abhi toh sirf li angdhai hai aage bahut ladai hai (sic).”

Bharat is slated for an Eid-2019 release, Salman Khan’s trademark. The actor will also begin work on Arbaaz Khan’s Dabaang 3 and Sohail Khan’s Sher Khan soon.