40 scenes from Salman

Salman Khan: 40 mess-ups, moods and modes
Salman Khan is not a personality. He is a phenomenon. A jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put together, waiting to begin making sense.

As the stud star turns 40 sporting a rather unusual Elvis-like hairstyle thanks to his recent hair transplant, we present the man in his varied mess-ups, moods and modes.

What is it about Salman Khan that we love to hate? Why do we always conceive him as an over-grown macho moron, a successful and highly famous brat whose biggest strength lies in his over-grown muscles and not his mind? Why is Salman Khan the declared national troublemaker when he has given Bollywood its most famous romantic hero till date, Prem? Why is he not perceived as a ���normal��� human being with 'normal' issues?

Why must he have an uncontrollable temper, prompting him to hit his girlfriend in her head with a coke bottle? Why must he be an alcoholic insisting on driving, killing innocent people sleeping on the pavement of the unfortunate road he drove on? Why must he be caught shooting an extinct animal species?
Why must he box his more famous girlfriend in her eye? Why must his alleged telephone conversations molesting her be aired on national TV? Why must he scare journalists to death when they ask the most obvious, straight-faced questions? Why must he be caught on camera beating up journalists?

Most importantly, why must he not speak up and defend himself in public? Why must he not garner sympathy? Why must he want to lead his life this way?
Why must he live in the constant paradox of being the most passionately hated person? Khan has successfully managed to create an air of mystery to him, despite all the controversies and constant exposure.

He evokes strange reactions and emotions from his audience. Just a mention of his name will bring up many 'brat stories'. Everyone has a Salman Khan story to tell. A sight of him posing in his extra tight embellished T-shirts makes people go 'yuck'. But when the same extra large, heavily accented Khan does a small town character in Tere Naam, the nation gives in to the vulnerability on his face. All of a sudden, the ���bratness��� is replaced by ���hardships��� and 'constant criticism'.

Salman Khan is impossible to be dismissed. He has to be decoded. Before moving on to anything else, here, revisit some of his much talked about controversies. One wonders why Khan hasn���t planned on writing an autobiography till now. By far, his personal life is much more interesting than all his films put together. Ups and downs, speculation, allegations, emotion, drama, action - his life has it all.

At the 2003 Filmfare Awards night, he managed to create quite a tamasha. This is what the story goes like. He entered the venue drunk and on seeing Aishwarya, seated on the first row, insisted on sitting next to her. The person next to her to was forced to vacate the seat.
Once next to her, he tried to talking to her. But after realizing that she was ignoring him completely, he put his hand around her forcibly and kissed her in front of everybody. As expected, Rai, by then, was visibly embarrassed.

She tried her best to not let it become apparent and being shot with her drunk boyfriend by Press photographers. But Salman kept getting closer to her despite her growing irritation. After a while, when she was called to go on stage to present an award, he insisted that he would accompany her. Aishwarya changed her mind altogether and didn���t go on stage.

But her decision only worsened his temper and he started shouting at her loudly for all to hear. After that, Aishwarya was very upset and Preity Zinta came and sat with her to cheer her up. Aishwarya was so embarrassed by the public tamasha that she was the only actress who didn���t attend the after-party held at the Marriot Hotel. In fact, she went home in tears.

In another equally shocking story, Khan was reported to have barged into Rai's house, smashing windowpanes and destroying furniture in presence of her parents. Rai���s father Krishnaraj is believed to have filed a complaint with Mumbai police.

If reports are to be believed, he rammed his car into Aishwarya���s stationary vehicle, knocked down the front door of her residence and finally, smashed some windowpanes. Salman���s father, Salim Khan initially tried to dismiss these reports as "gossip". Later, he went on record to say that "Salman may have done a few things in an emotionally-charged state."

The two got together on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali���s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Speculation of abuse in the relationship started when the actress attended a film awards function in Mumbai with a fractured arm and a black eye a couple of years ago. And anyway, by then, we had all heard enough stories about Khan���s violent and volatile with his women. Somi Ali, anyone?

The black buck case attracted a lot of attention. After all the speculation, the driver of the jeep which Khan used for hunting the blackbucks, submitted before a local court that Khan killed the animal first injuring it with a bullet and then chopping off its head with a knife in Mathania.

Khan was arrested and released five days after securing bail in various cases including possessing and using illegal weapons. Prominent film personalities including Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were among the eight accused in the case. The incident happened during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Nothing new can be said about the hit and run case involving Salman Khan in which one person was killed and four others injured. For the longest time, Khan asserted that he was not on the driver's seat when his car rammed into the bakery. Eyewitnesses gave contrary reports.

The police had recorded statements from various sources that contradicted Khan's statement that police bodyguard Ravindra Patil (he was given police protection after threats from the underworld) was driving the vehicle which crashed into the bakery. Patil himself told the police that Salman was driving the Toyota Land cruiser.

"I saw Salman coming out of the car after the accident. He did not have the courtesy to take us to hospital even though we were crying out in pain. He ran away when people (near the accident site) started beating him up and the other man in the car, (singer) Kamal Khan," one of the survivors was then quoted as saying.

According to Patil, the actor looked back to talk to him and lost control of the vehicle. He swerved the vehicle to avoid an electric pole and dashed into the bakery. Salman in a police statement had denied that he was driving the vehicle and also refuted allegations that he was under the influence of alcohol. However, the medical report of the alcohol test, to which the actor was subjected after his arrest, proved positive. The actor had been booked under section 304 (A) for which the sentence is rigorous imprisonment for three years.

In a separate rendezvous, Mumbai police declared they were in possession of taped conversations between Salman Khan and mafia dons, Chhota Shakeel and Abu Salem. Police had hinted that they might use the tapes against Khan if he refused to cooperate with them in a case against film financer Bharat Shah, who was then in custody for his links to the underworld.

In yet another puzzling story, Khan was supposedly involved in music baron Gulshan Kumar's gruesome murder. As the details of the murder began trickling in, it became apparent that the plot to kill Gulshan Kumar had been hatched on June 12 at Dubai when a galaxy of Indian stars participated in the opening of a luxury hotel owned by Vivek Goswami a narcotics dealer linked to Chota Rajan another underworld non-resident Indian don.

As investigations continued, more rivalries began surfing. Ramesh Taurani - owner of Tips another rival to Super Cassette, was identified as an associate of Dawood Ibrahim's gang. The investigation led the police to interview filmstars Salman Khan, Pooja Bhat and Shravan among others.

Khan has to have a specially slotted lot of bad luck. How else is it possible for one human being to keep running into trouble ever so often? However, his family has been ever so defensive about the favourite boy of the family. After puppy lover Vivek-now-Viveik Oberoi decided to go public with the 41 threat calls fiasco, younger Arbaaz spoke in Salman bhai���s defense. Infact, Khan himself didn���t even come on camera.

His second brother Sohail, Arbaaz���s ultra glamourous wife Malaika, step mom Helen, father Salim - they all seem to swear by him. Every now and then, there are reports of him indulging in charity without making a social splash. He shows up for marathons, wearing his favourite tight Levis jeans, an all-new hair implant and under eye bags, big enough to carry his fat muscles.

However, his family has landed into controversy ever so often because of him. In one such case, his father Salim Khan was accused of receiving illegal payments from underworld for shows abroad. The father-son were questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in Bombay. The allegation followed a raid by the Income Tax department.

It won���t be fair if we revisited just Khan���s life���s low points. If he���s been unlucky, he���s been equally lucky. Despite all the cases pending against him, he shares a rather strong fan following. He still continues to be the ONE macho man of Bollywood.

Khan is the pioneer of muscle in Bollywood. He is the one who has inspired (and trained) stars like Hrithik Roshan to get into fitness and iron pumping in a big way. And it���s not just the guys who swear by him. Even the once upon a time flabby Esha Deol can���t stop giving credit to Salman. Deol even went to his swish in house gym to work on those fab abs.

Style and Salman go hand in hand. He is the one who introduced the concept of waxed chest, pierced ears, thick bracelets, leaves for skirts and some other rather not amusing fads. He wasn���t named one of the most beautiful men of the world by People magazine for nothing.

The star can do with some deglamourisation now though. It hurts a bit to see a 40-year-old man insisting on wearing T-shirts two sizes short and wearing layers and layers of make-up. With Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, he set new standards for men wearing make-up. We respect the fact that he started the metro sexual movement in India. We would respect it more if he could get over it now.

The star is also making efforts at becoming a Press darling now. The change came about ever since the release of his hit Tere Naam. During the promotion of the film, the star opened up after a long, long time. His sense of humour during conferences was back in action and he hade an extra effort to become friendly. At least appear friendly.

He has started giving TV interviews, making appearances on talent hunts and even showing up for social causes like marathons along with youth icons like Sania Mirza. He has started shooting special programmes with news channels, seen spending time with Siamese twins.

It is a pleasure seeing him do some ���normal��� things after all these years in the industry. The man who made it big in the showbiz world as a lanky, long-haired teenager in the 1989 smash hit Maine Pyar Kiya, tried coming full circle with this year���s release Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya. It���s a different matter the film was such a disaster people have forgotten it already.

It���s only recently that Khan has starting hugging Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh in public and judging music competitions. It���s only recently that he has started endorsing products. It���s only now that he has started making a big deal of a charity concert he does in Dubai for kids.

Here, feast on some tit bits from his official website:
I Pack...
...in a hurry and casually. I'm not particular about what I take as long as I am comfortable. Even a few shirts and a pair of jeans is fine with me. ...my shorts. It is a must because I need to exercise everyday. ...my dumb-bells. I need to work-out daily. Without work-outs my day is incomplete. While abroad I make it a point to visit the gymnasium. ...my perfumes and glares. I just can't do without them. ...my luggage. It's taken in advance while I reach the airport just in time for my flight.

I Travel...
...to London off an on. It's a beautiful place to be in. The river Thames, Big Ben and the trams of the city fascinate me. Recently when I visited the city I travelled by tube and had a ball. It brought back memories of my childhood.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? The kind of contentment I am experiencing right now.
Which living persons do you most admire? My father and my mother - they���re the best for me.
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Nothing. Why should I waste my time assessing others?

What is your greatest weakness? I can���t tell - it���s too personal to reveal. On what occasion do you lie? I don���t lie at all, and I mean it.

What do you dislike most about your appearance? Nothing, yaar. God has been kind to me.
Which living person do you most despise? I don���t despise anyone - if I don���t like them, they don���t matter.
What is your greatest regret? Thankfully for myself, I have no regrets whatsoever. And what���s more, I���m proud of that.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Nothing at all. It���s a package deal - take it or leave it.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? To have got the kind of family I do.
If you were to die, and come back as a person or thing, what would it be? I���d like to come back as my father.
What do you value most in friends? Their honesty.
Who���s your favourite fiction hero? Archie.

If you were to be marooned on a desolate island, who or what would you choose for company? I���d want to be alone so I could enjoy some peace of mind.
How would you like to die? In my sleep.
How would you like to be remembered? If people kept a special place for me in their hearts, i���d feel it was worth it all.

What is your motto? Go straight and turn right!
For advice you go to..? My father.
The kind of roles you like best are...? The roles that excite me!
Your best friend is....? The one I tell all my secrets to.