New adventure

Also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Katrina Kaif and Lloyd Owen, the action-adventure film, adapted from an 1839 English novel, is about a band of thugs who aspire to free India from British rule.

Khan stars as Firangi Mallah, a con man recruited by the British forces to steal information from the thugs' leader.

Khan describes his character, Firangi Mallah, as unpredictable, and with conscience, but no moral values.

"He can sell his mother for money. But I've found he's really an interesting and entertaining character," says Khan.

The star had discovered a resemblance between his new character and a household name in China's martial arts world. Two months earlier during the Taihu World Cultural Forum in Beijing, Khan revealed one of his favorite Chinese characters is Wei Xiaobao, the fictional protagonist penned by late Hong Kong literature master, Louis Cha, in his classic novel, The Deer and The Cauldron.

When Khan was in Hong Kong around eight months ago, he met a local filmmaker who gave him a copy of the novel, which comes in three volumes.

Spanning the political conflicts during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in 17th-century China, the martial arts story follows Wei, a teenage hooligan born to a prostitute mother in a brothel to become the best friend of the emperor.

"The Chinese boy is 14 years old. He is sly, funny and a bit like my character (in Thugs of Hindostan)," Khan says during a brief interview.

The influential star also talks about the popular Indian TV show Truth Alone Prevails, which he has hosted since 2012. The program examines some controversial issues in Indian society, such as child abuse, child marriage and dowry.