If Bollywood is a jungle, Salman is its reigning tiger. That's why Kabir could not think of anyone else but him to play the lead role in his film. The director explained, “Yes, me and Salman go back a long way. There was certain warmth that I shared with Salman, even before approaching him for Ek Tha Tiger. Also, if you call any other guy in Bollywood a ‘tiger’, it could sound cheesy. I didn’t want my audience to be in doubt.  But with Salman, you can be sure that woh sab ka baap hai.”

Kabir further threw light on Katrina to play ‘Zoya’ in ETT. The writer-director of New York said he keeps the persona of his stars in mind while writing the script. “I wrote the script keeping Katrina in mind. Believe me, no one could have do justice or portray Zoya like Katrina did.”

Contrary to the stories doing the rounds about the moodiness and the interference of the star, Kabir says “As a film-maker I am very collaborative. I like suggestions coming in, not only from Salman but from everybody. Any two creative people will never have a common perspective,” With this Kabir was all praises for Salman.
There are very few friendships that survived in Bollywood. And, though Ek Tha Tiger is first film of Kabir with Salman, we feel this one will last long too.