Ticket to ride

1. Salman's charisma

Salman's Khan's 2009 blockbuster Wanted, an action-thriller where he played a trigger-happy undercover cop, established his box-office status like never before. Despite a weak script, Wanted highlighted Khan's star-power and heralded the revival of the forgotten larger-than-life, all-conquering Bollywood hero. His tough act and pompous dialogues almost had us believe that knocking off a dozen people single-handedly was not a Herculean feat. So if Khan could pull off a Wanted, his latest Dabangg — where he plays a corrupt cop — should be child's play.

2. A great way to celebrate the Metro's first birthday

Dabangg is the first Bollywood film to have a song sequence shot on the Dubai Metro. Here is your chance to watch Khan serenade his on-screen wife Sonakshi Sinha on Dubai's transport marvel during their honeymoon. In an interview in Dubai in May, Khan called his Dubai Metro experience "honeymoon-perfect".

"Shooting at the station was fascinating. Some of our airports aren't this large or like this," Khan said.

The honeymoon-song sequence was also shot at the palatial Emirates Palace Hotel and in the desert.

3. The latest Bollywood May-December romance

When Sinha, daughter of veteran actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, was a two-year-old toddler, Khan was busy scooping awards for his first-big Bollywood hit Maine Pyaar Kiya. The year was 1989. Cut to 2010, Khan will now be cavorting with Sinha. It will be interesting to watch a 40-something Khan convincingly romance a PYT like Sinha.

4. Sonu Sood gets nasty

Sonu Sood may have impressed us with his sensitive portrayal of taxi driver Basu in City Of Life, but here is your chance to watch him in a wholly different avatar. Sood plays an uncouth Bihari politician who hates Khan's character's guts and has sworn to bring him down.

5. The sizzling Malaika

Need I say more? For the uninitiated, Khan's sister-in-law makes dancing atop trains look easy and takes her title of ‘item-girl' seriously. Here is your chance to watch her gyrate with Khan.

Surprise package

If you are pitted against a titan like Salman Khan in a film, the chances of being overshadowed are high. But City Of Life actor Sonu Sood — who hardly features in any of the promotional blitzkreig alongside Khan — harbours no such insecurities.

"I am the surprise package. Even before I signed the film, I was told I would be kept out of the promotions because Abhinav [Kashyap, the director] felt that I should not be exposed before the release. It was intentional and there was no question of feeling bad about it," Sood says over the telephone from Mumbai.

There may be no love lost between their characters in the film, but this is not the case in real life. Calling Khan his "mentor", Sood says the star helped him during tough action scenes. Khan — who started the trend of heroes stripping off their shirts in Bollywood (remember Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya) even helped Sood with some of the bare-chested scenes.

"It felt great when he told me that I have got one of the finest bodies in Bollywood. He told me that your body looks great in daylight if you put some suntan lotion on. Not many actors will bother with such details," Sood says.