Salman Khan says he wishes Bollywood rival Shah Rukh Khan well, but that the actor has let fame go to his head. “I’ve seen Shah Rukh go door-to-door asking for work when he was a nobody. Today he’s a completely different man. In his place, I would have been much more humble. May God bless him for what he’s become.”
In Delhi to promote his new movie Wanted, Salman said he admired “lots” about Shah Rukh. “He has a great vision, he’s doing well for himself…has just the right contacts to reach where he has,” but added, “Just that I would never want to be what he has become over the years.”
Salman says the two could never be friends, despite offers from the film fraternity to mend the rift. He says SRK must have been drunk the night of their infamous spat a year ago at girlfriend Katrina Kaif’s birthday party in Mumbai: “No one knows what exactly happened that night. It was just four of us, and none of us would ever talk to the press about it. I just went home and slept off that night. In the morning, it struck me that it hurt…like when you have a wound, you don’t feel the pain when you’ve just got injured. I tried to forget it, thinking the man must have been drunk to say whatever he did. But then the media got to know and they wouldn’t let us be. The whole world wants to play peacemaker now, but I stay away from such ‘friends’.
“Shah Rukh and I had another such argument five years ago, but we sorted it out. This one, I don’t think we can sort out ever.” About reports that SRK accused him of following in his footsteps with plans to buy an IPL team, he says, “He could also say I followed him into this world as I was born a month later than him. Tomorrow I may go ahead and buy a football team too, I’m doing it all only because I want to promote my charity Being Human and getting into popular sports is a good way of doing that.” Salman gets candid about Katrina, quitting acting and on sharing cold vibes with Shahid Kapur
{{/usCountry}}“Shah Rukh and I had another such argument five years ago, but we sorted it out. This one, I don’t think we can sort out ever.” About reports that SRK accused him of following in his footsteps with plans to buy an IPL team, he says, “He could also say I followed him into this world as I was born a month later than him. Tomorrow I may go ahead and buy a football team too, I’m doing it all only because I want to promote my charity Being Human and getting into popular sports is a good way of doing that.” Salman gets candid about Katrina, quitting acting and on sharing cold vibes with Shahid Kapur
{{/usCountry}}Salman Khan does not mince words. Not on any subject, be it Shah Rukh or anyone else. On a visit to Delhi on Wednesday to promote his upcoming movie,Wanted, the leading man chatted candidly about “upsetting” Shahid Kapur, quitting acting and girlfriend Katrina Kaif.
There have been reports that Shahid Kapur is upset for not being treating with respect when he came on Salman’s TV show Dus Ka Dum. “Really?” he asks, “Shahid was invited on my show only because Rani Mukherji, who is a close friend, asked me to call him. When people come on my show, they bare their heart… they don’t act ‘politically correct’. I told him to chill out and act natural… if he still chose to give boring answers, he deserved what he got.” Would we ever see stars he doesn’t get along with, make an appearance on his show? “Never. I could be a fraud but not such a big one that I’ll invite such people on my show and ‘act’ all friendly with them. They’ll never be on Dus ka Dum,” he says.
He takes a break for a moment to allow an excited choora clad newly married woman to get a picture taken with him and then responds to a question about his recent quote that he would quit acting if Wanted flops. “I didn’t say that then, but now that you ask me, I’m saying it — I will quit acting if Wanted flops. But then I may also decide to back out.”
He can’t stop gushing about how producer Boney Kapoor loosened his purse strings for the movie. “Boney Sir is the most genuine man I’ve ever known. While the world keeps talking of recession, here’s this man who spent millions on just getting the action sequences and the songs shot for this movie.” And how was dancing sensation Prabhu Deva as a director? “Horrible. Prabhu is such a strict taskmaster… just doesn’t let you take it easy even for a moment. Such a perfectionist.” One can’t end an interview with Salman without bringing up his ladylove in the conversation, so we ask him if Katrina’s photos still adorn the walls of his room, and he replies with a twinkle, “Oh Katrina is doing really well. Her pics are now on my fridge… well that’s where she wanted them to be.”