Salman Khan’s performance in Sultan remains one of the most celebrated roles of his career, with the actor undergoing a remarkable physical transformation to portray a world wrestling champion. While his intense wrestling sequences and dedication to the character were widely appreciated, director Ali Abbas Zafar has now shared an interesting behind-the-scenes story about Salman’s commitment to one of the film’s most crucial moments—the memorable paunch scene.

Ali Abbas Zafar reveals Salman Khan waited four days to perfect Sultan’s iconic paunch scene; says, “When he performed that scene, I was like numb”

Speaking during an interview, Ali Abbas Zafar revealed that convincing Salman to shoot the scene was a long process, as the actor believed it carried significant emotional weight.

When asked how he directed Salman for the sequence, the filmmaker said, “Paunch scene on paper just as he heard it, he understood that it’s a very important scene. He had to make peace with himself to do that scene. It took me three months, through the entire duration of the film, to convince him to do that scene. It was supposed to be shoot in the first schedule, which we started in November, in Karjat. He said, I’m not ready for it.”

Ali further explained that the scene was eventually filmed only after Salman felt mentally and physically prepared. “And then almost before he started losing weight for the first Dangal for his entry scene, I said, ‘Bhai, now you are getting back into shape, and we have to do it.’ Then he took some four days off, and one day he came to me and said, ‘Today we’re going to shoot this.’ And then he went and worked out for like four hours. And it worked out well for us because If you see, his top half still looks big.”

The director also praised Salman for approaching the scene with the mindset of a performer who understood his character deeply. “Which is very good, because there is where a thinking actor comes from, because he’s a wrestler. And your shoulders and your upper body is something that can stay with you, even if you are kind of fading away. We kept two cameras, and I kind of took him through three scenes before, three scenes after. The whole scene where Randeep Hooda tells him that, ‘You’re a dead person and I don’t treat dead people.’ – that whole scene, then he just came and did it in one take, and I only have one take on two lenses.”

Recalling the emotional impact of Salman’s performance, Ali admitted that he was left speechless after the take. “When he performed that scene, I was like numb. And he left the frame and I said, ‘Cut.’ And then he came out and like a child, he turned towards me. Like that’s the most vulnerable moment that I felt with SK. And he said, ‘Do you want to do one more?’ And I was like, ‘No, no, we won’t do it.’ He said, ‘No, if you want to do one more, you can do it.’ I said, ‘No, no, I got it.’ And he never saw that take.! He never saw that take!”

The filmmaker’s recollection offers a glimpse into Salman Khan’s dedication to authenticity in Sultan. From waiting until he felt emotionally ready to spending days preparing his physique before delivering the sequence flawlessly in a single take, the actor’s commitment played a key role in making the film one of the biggest successes of his career.

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