Its Salman vs SRK // Bollywood Stars

Nikhil Dwivedi talks about his equation with the two Khans of Bollywood.
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Raavan wasn’t favourably received at the Box Office. Was that disappointing for you?
Obviously, because every actor has expectations from his film. But at least I got some good reviews for my performance and that is heartening. I’ve seen the hard work put in by all, right from the director to all the actors, including Aishwarya and Abhishek. Somewhere, I don’t feel disappointed for myself, but for the entire cast and crew. For me, this film was a step forward every way. I only wish it had been received better at the BO, that would have been a bonus.
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What’s in the pipeline now?
I want to concentrate on the remake of Arjun, I’m quite excited about that. We have changed the entire script and made it contemporary as unemployment is not an issue so much now. But again, it’s about the main protagonist being against the system. Then there’s a film with Shashank Shah, who made Dasvidaniya. A film with Tusshar Kapoor would be releasing sometime in September. It’s a very edgy film, something very different in terms of the script.
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What’s happening with Basra?
Basra was delayed for some reasons. But I’ve been told by the director Navdeep Singh that the project is very much on. I believe they are looking forward to shooting it sometime in October. They’ve taken my dates for it. I believe it needs some working at the moment, but once that’s through, we should be rolling with Basra as well.
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Recently, there have been rumours about your falling out and patching up with Shah Rukh Khan as well as your proximity with Salman Khan. What’s the true picture?
I’ve known Shah Rukh Khan for a fairly long time now, and have always looked up to him. He’s my mentor. Usually, I refrain from talking about our friendship because the position that I’m in, it looks I’m piggybanking on him, and I don’t want him or anyone else to get that impression. So just for that reason, I’m reluctant to talk about the friendship I share with him. Having said that, I have also known Salman for quite some time. Very recently, I joined him for his charity show in Dubai. Salman was extremely encouraging and very affectionate towards a novice like me. Salman was so affectionate towards me without ever wondering if Shah Rukh’s close to me. Shah Rukh has never ever told me who to be friends with or who to interact with. They’re two adults and they disagree, we should respect that. That doesn’t mean we can interact with one and not with the other. Each one of them is doing his work and doing his best. One should interact with them and learn as much as one can from them.