Actor Salman Khan‘s upcoming film Bharat is the journey of ‘a man and a nation together.’ However, as revealed by the film’s team in various interviews, Bharat also delves into the depth of a father-son relationship. Director Ali Abbas Zafar now took a moment to highlight the importance of Salman Khan as the lead in the film and how that added to the father-son bond that he wanted to showcase on-screen. The director talked to an entertainment portal and revealed that one of the reasons why only Salman could have played the character of Bharat in his film is because of the kind of chemistry he has with his father, writer Salim Khan.

Ali talked to Bollywoodlife and mentioned that Salman and his father are very close to each other and there’s a sense of mutual respect between them. Similarly, his character in the film is someone who walks on the path of the values taught to him by his father, played by actor Jackie Shroff. Ali was quoted by the portal saying, “I feel that there couldn’t be a better choice to play Bharat than Salman because the film is about a father-son relationship and anyone who is aware of Salman and Salim uncle’s bond will know how close they are to each other and how much respect is there between them.”

He went on to add that while narrating a story like Bharat, one needs to target the largest possible audience and therefore, he needed a superstar to spearhead the film. Ali said that both the sides of Salman – his superstar power and his relationship with his father, were required by an actor to play the role of Bharat and Salman had them already. The portal quoted the director saying, “Salman’s power and stardom and the relationship he shares with his father get translated very well in his performance in the film, making him a better choice.”

Also featuring Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover, Nora Fatehi, Tabu and Sonali Kulkarni in important roles, Bharat is slated to hit the screens on June 5.