'Hero' is a producer's film: Nikhil Advani reveals Salman Khan cut out 30 minutes from final edit

Salman Khan, the producer of the remake of superhit film Hero, has trimmed the movie by 30 minutes, director Nikhil Advani said. In an interview, Nikhil, asked about Salman’s influence, said: “Before the making, I called him and said to him tell me what you want.” [caption id=“attachment_2406718” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Salman Khan singing Main Hoon Hero Tera. Image from IBN Live.[/caption] “I told him (Salman) if you don’t sit on the edit, I cannot finish this film. You need to sit on the edit, to tell me what is right and what is wrong, what is working, what is not working,” Advani said. “He (Salman) sat, he cut out 30 minutes of the film,. The film is now 2.04 hours. Someone recently asked me what is Hero in one word and I said ‘Salman Khan’,” he added. It was recently reported that Salman had not interfered in the creative process. So did this editing satisfy or dent Nikhil’s confidence as a director? “It totally satisfies me as a director. What it allowed me to do is while Hero was being made, I also made Katti Batti. Hero is a producer’s film, Katti Batti is a director’s film,” said Nikhil. The bond between Nikhil and Salman was formed when they had worked in Salaam-E-Ishq. And Nikhil considers their friendship to be good enough to seek genuine feedback from him. Hero starring Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty is releasing on 11 September.