Directed by Kabir Khan, Tubelight is the tale of two brothers, one of whom is recruited in the army in the Sino-Indian war of 1962.
The film stars Salman Khan, Sohail Khan, Om Puri, Matin Rey Tangu, Om Puri, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and Shah Rukh Khan who put in a special appearance. Chinese actor Zhu Zhu is also a part of the film.
Tubelight is an adaptation of the 2015 Hollywood film, Little Boy. Filming started in Ladakh in July 2016.
Salman Khan plays a "simple earnest character" in Tubelight . He credits the crew for a lot of help in potraying the character. "Since this is a period film, there’s also a lot of support from the costume designer, there’s my sister, there are people who designed my clothes, there’s the DoP (director of photography), then there’s the art director who made it look like its 1962," Salman said in an interview to The Hindu .
Salman has already worked with director Kabir Khan in two other movies - Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015). Both the films were big hits but Bajrangi Bhaijaan in particular, went on to gross an estimated ₹600-plus crores at the box office. It was also the fastest Bollywood film to hit the ₹500 crore mark.
Working with family
Salman's brother Sohail Khan returns to acting with Tubelight . Sohail plays the younger brother who takes care of the older one, until he is recruited by the Indian army to fight at the border.
He was last seen in Veer (2010), which received neither commercial nor critical success. “I wasn’t very happy with the acting offers coming my way,” he told The Hindu . “So why do something half half-heartedly?”
Stirring up controversy
Salman Khan stirred up a minor controversy when he said "warmongers" should be "sent to the front", during promotional interviews for the film. “War will be over in a day,” the actor predicted.
Salman and Sohail were speaking at a media conference about their new movie Tubelight , set in the backdrop of the Indo-China conflict of 1962. Sohail, who plays the role of a missing soldier, said that nobody supported wars, but conflicts never ended, when he was interrupted by his brother.
“Let all those who call for war be made to pick up guns and move to the front,’ Salman told the reporters.“Their legs will start trembling, their hands will start shaking and they will be back to the discussion table,” he said.
(Review by Namrata Joshi)
