Not Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan or Anil Kapoor, this actor was the first to demand a fee for performing at award shows

This actor changed the fate of Bollywood, making sure no other star has to ever perform for free at award shows.

Today, Bollywood actors put up dazzling performances at award shows, entertaining audiences while taking home hefty paycheques. But there was a time when stars performed only in exchange for awards, without being paid for their acts. The person who changed this trend was none other than Salman Khan.

The actor who changed the trend of not getting paid for performing in awards shows.

When Anil Kapoor revealed that Salman Khan was the first actor to demand pay for performing at award show

Actor Anil Kapoor once appeared on Sajid Khan’s talk show Sajid’s Superstars, where the filmmaker asked him, “Woh kaunsa actor tha jisne zindagi me pehli baar paise maange the award function me perform karne (Who was that actor who charged a fee for performing at award functions)?” To this, the actor replied, “Salman Khan.” Anil further revealed that he himself was the first actor who did not charge for his performance at an award show, simply because he was unaware that actors were paid handsomely for it.

When Salman Khan took a hefty paycheque for his performance

In 2023, during a press conference, Salman recalled how, after Maine Pyaar Kiya, he was told to attend the Filmfare Awards with the assurance that he would be given the Best Actor trophy. He arrived with his father and his entire family, but when the announcement was made, the award went instead to Jackie Shroff.

He added, “I was going to get it so my dad said ‘ye kya hai (what is this)?’ I was to perform that night, for the first time. So, I went backstage and said, ‘This is something I cannot do because this is not done. I don’t care, I don’t care at all. I mean, Jackie’s got it. He was damn good in Parinda, but you shouldn’t have done this with me. Since you are my father’s friend, you shouldn’t have ever done this’. He said ‘But, you have to perform’. I said ‘I cannot perform’.”

Salman then recalled how he ended up demanding more money than what was first offered to him, “He said, ‘You know what I will pay you for this performance’. I said, ‘How much?’ He gave me a figure. I said, ‘It won’t happen in this much’. Little more, little more till it was a substantial figure of that time… five times (more)… he said, 'Please don’t tell anyone’. I said, ‘This is the wrong person.’ I went out and told Akshay and Juhi that this is the cheque I got for this performance, talk to them and get yours too. So that was the first time any award function paid for an actor’s performance.”

Salman Khan’s upcoming film

Salman was most recently seen in Sikandar, which underperformed at the box office, earning only ₹184.6 crore worldwide, according to Sacnilk. He will next be seen in Apoorva Lakhia’s The Battle of Galwan, a patriotic drama centred on the 2020 Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese troops. The film also stars Chitrangada Singh in a key role and is currently under production.