Salman Khan opened the new season of Koffee With Karan with a refusal — and, in doing so, offered a sharper acting note than most rapid-fire answers permit. Asked to choose between Ranveer Singh in Dhurandhar and Ranbir Kapoor in Animal, he declined and instead explained why each performance worked on its own terms.
The rapid-fire question
On the Season 9 opener streaming on JioHotstar, Karisma Kapoor put the question to Salman during the rapid-fire round. He did not offer the tidy binary the format usually encourages. His answer treated the two turns as different registers rather than competing entries.
“He is very secure as an actor and in that role in Dhurandhar,” Salman said of Ranveer.
He added that Ranveer’s usual screen language is larger than life and that the espionage part required controlling that impulse. For Salman, that containment — not the lack of insecurity, but the choice not to show it — became the marker of a settled performer.
Why restraint registered
In Aditya Dhar’s franchise, Ranveer plays Jaskirat Singh Rangi, who assumes the identity Hamza Ali Mazari to move through Karachi’s criminal underworld. The story begins with Intelligence Bureau chief Ajay Sanyal recruiting a young man from Pathankot for a deep-cover mission. The first film released on 5 December 2025; the sequel, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, followed on 19 March 2026 and tracks his growing influence within Pakistani syndicates.
Salman’s praise is notable because it locates security not in excess but in subtraction. An industry that consistently rewards high-volume performances rarely discusses the courage required to be smaller. His comment gives audiences a craft-based lens: sometimes the significant decision is what a star chooses to withhold.
The Animal contrast
When Karisma suggested he was being diplomatic, Salman dismissed the word. He distinguished the actors by their dominant registers — energy and intensity — and argued that the two performances cannot be ranked against each other.
- Ranveer in Dhurandhar: a high-energy performer holding back for a deep-cover role.
- Ranbir in Animal: an obsessive character driven by loyalty, violence and family.
- Salman’s position: different styles, not a ranking.
Animal, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and released on 1 December 2023, turns on a father-son wound; Dhurandhar runs on paranoia and concealment. The comparison is fan-press habit, but Salman declined to turn craft into a contest.
The archive beyond the answer
The episode also touched on older history: Salman recalled shooting around 13 films with Karisma and said he accepted Kuch Kuch Hota Hai out of respect for Yash Johar. Alongside memories of his early days at Galaxy Apartments, the conversation carried a nostalgic undertone.
The exchange matters less for who wins an imaginary face-off than for how Hindi stars are now discussed. Dhurandhar and Animal are two distinct bets on what a leading man can do; Salman’s answer — that one is not better, just different — is likely to outlast the episode itself.
Source: India Today
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