@God Father .. I wouldn't find Salman unsuitable without watching this version. Can't pre-judge just because I've watched OTMF. It is a journey of one from his childhood till old age.
Sultan didn't had machoism in every scene. But that is what the personality showed. It is the same with Salman Khan in Bharat. You've him as a Daredevil stunt rider at a circus & you want him to be soft? Just strictly going by writing, one who dares to risk his life to earn his daily bread isn't going to come out as soft, the machoness will come inherent. And here the superior goal is to reunite with his father. Obviously the main theme is emotional, the entire journey will make the character tough & in this case the machoness.
He is not Pawan from Bajrangi Bhaijaan to be soft & innocent throughout the film. That innocent was required there. A Pawan won't fight back until he is pushed to the extreme. A Bharat has a completely different character, he is an Alpha. Pawan was not. Neither was Lakshman from Tubelight. The character traits have to justified with actions (by this I don't mean fighting), I mean taking in charge of situations. That is what the short teaser showed the glimpse of.
This is why Chulbul Pandey, Pawan, Sultan, Lovely or even Lakshman are his best written characters this decade. They don't act against their true character. Tiger stumbled with the love story, jumbling from being super alpha to non-alpha. This happened with Veer too. Not to speak of his last character though.