Salman Khan skips first song launch of 'Tubelight'. Here's why

Salman Khan

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan didn't attend the launch of the first song from his forthcoming film 'Tubelight' on Friday. He is busy shooting for 'Tiger Zinda Hai' in Abu Dhabi, says director Kabir Khan.

Kabir, who has helmed "Tubelight", attended the launch with composer Pritam, lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya and choreographer Remo D'souza, among others here.

Asked why Salman wasn't present on the occasion, Kabir said: "Salman is busy shooting in Abu Dhabi for his film 'Tiger Zinda Hai'. When he will come back, we will meet again."

He added: "We will be leaving for Dubai to promote the music this month and release the trailer on May 24."

Pritam, Remo D'Souza, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kabir Khan at Tubelight first song screening. Pic courtesy/Jagran New Media

D'souza said he enjoyed working with Salman along with 1000 dancers for the song, "Radio".

Pritam added: "I tried to capture the 1960s' era in the musical arrangement as the film is set in that time. I did the instrumentation of the song accordingly. Since I've been working with Kabir for quite some time, I understand his musical sensibility better."

Asked why he chose radio as an element of the song, Bhattacharya said: "Radio was a very common and an important medium during that era, and how can I write 'DJ wala babu' for a 1960s' song?"

Kabir confirmed that the film will release in China and that the team is processing for it.

Pritam, Remo D'Souza, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Kabir Khan at Tubelight first song screening. Pic courtesy/Jagran New Media

He also mentioned that the film is an adaptation of the 2015 movie "Little Boy".

"Yes, it is the official adaptation of 'Little Boy'. Though the story of the boy was on a religious context, we love the seed of the idea and that is why we bought the rights of the story from the makers, and used it in our film that has war and history," said Kabir.

"Tubelight" is set to release on June 23.