Daily Times

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan got teary-eyed at IIFA as he recalled struggling days in the industry; acknowledged Suniel Shetty and Boney Kapoor for their help.

The ‘Dabangg’ actor who was the host for the night at IIFA Awards in Abu-Dhabi, Sunday, breaks down in tears on the stage while recalling his early days in Bollywood when he was a struggler and didn’t have enough money to afford luxuries.

Khan narrated an incident when the actor was eyeing a couple of products from Suniel Shetty’s shop – Mischief – but was unable to get them due to the hard times and received them as a gift from the ‘Dhadkan’ star.

“There was a time when I didn’t have a lot of money. I only had enough to be able to buy one shirt and jeans,” detailed the actor. “During that time, a new fashion trend had come about and that was stone-washed jeans. I was out shopping and at a very popular store, I saw stone-washed denim jeans and a shirt. I only had money enough to buy the jeans and I left the shirt alone. Suniel Shetty, who was with me in the store, noticed that I didn’t have money to buy it, so he bought the shirt and gifted it to me.”

Later in the ceremony, Salman Khan also acknowledged filmmakers Boney Kapoor and Ramesh Taurani for their help to revive his sinking career. “After Maine Pyar Kiya [was] released, Bhagyashree decided she didn’t want to work anymore, because she wanted to get married. The entire credit for the film went to her and for six months I didn’t have any work.”

“And that’s when a kind man entered my life. He was a God send, Ramesh Taurani. At that time, my father paid 2000 rupees and coaxed producer GP Sippy to carry a fake announcement advertisement in a trade magazine that he had signed me for a film. Based on that ad, Ramesh Taurani went to Sippy saab’s office and paid 5 lakh rupees for the music of the film. It was because of those 5 lakhs that I finally got a film called Patthar Ke Phool,” the ‘Tiger Zinda hai’ actor elaborated.

Continuing in tears, Khan hugged Boney Kapoor in the audience and detailed his generosity as well. “Boney ji has helped me all through my life. When my career was going through a difficult time, Boney ji gave me a film called Wanted, which brought me back.”

On the acting front, Salman Khan will next be seen in ‘Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali’ slated to come out in December this year, while he also has ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Tiger 3? in the pipeline for 2023.