Is Salman Khan Trying to Move into Akshay Kumar's Market with His Film 'Bharat'?

Akshay Kumar has no monopoly over playing the nationalistic patriotic hero with a social conscience. Admittedly he has done so with impressive success in his recent films like Airlift, Toilet Ek Prem Katha and PadMan. But it’s now time for Akshay to make room for another superstar in the patriotic market.
Salman Khan intends to make a spectacular impact as Bharat in his friend and collaborator Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat. In  the film the superstar Khan’s character takes India and Indians through 71 years of independence as seen through the eyes of  a common man.
Says director Ali Abbas Zafar, “We have worked thoroughly on Indian history and on the adaptation of text. We’re going to attempt a comprehensive view of the factors that shaped Indian and the Indian ethos.”

Standing tall at the centre of this historical India is Salman Khan who will be named Bharat, the name that yesteryears’ legend Manoj Kumar took for his character in his timeless paeans to patriotism like Upkar, Purab Aur Paschim and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan.
According to a source in the know, “Salman’s Bharat will be closer in spirit to Manoj Kumar’s Bharat than Akshay Kumar’s patriotic heroes. Salman will pitch his appeal very close to the Indian heart. He will aim to be the most Indian hero since Raj Kapoor and Manoj Kumar.”