A Munnabhai is a series because you took him, and placed him somewhere else. We wanted to take it (Chulbul Pandey) forward in the Rocky way. Directing Salman (Khan) is not difficult at all. He’s like a good marksman. If he aims at a target, he might miss by just a fraction, not by a mile. You just have to channelise him in the right way.

“I think the switch (to direction) has happened with the right film at the right time. Dabangg is a great platform to start a career, but jitne advantages hain, utne hi disadvantages bhi ho sakte hain. There is a loyal base for this film, for which one has to be very cautious. And with my knowledge and experience, I have done my best.”

Arbaaz Khan, conducting the pre-release proceedings in his Bandra office is rather composed for a man helming the most talked about sequel of the season — Dabangg 2 with his superstar brother Salman Khan, who immortalised Chulbul Pandey, now a variously cloned template in different films.

Speaking of the daunting responsibility that he has taken upon himself, the newly minted director says, “I was aware of the challenges. A person, who directs his first film has different challenges than someone who has just directed a blockbuster, and is now on to the next one.

Then there are challenges when you are directing a successful sequel, both for the person who originally directed it as well as the replacement director. If Abhinav was directing it instead of me, it would still not have been easy.”