Anees Bazmee’s son wanted to play cricket with Shoaib Akhtar and Yuvraj Singh, Salman Khan made it happen with a phone call

Director Anees Bazmee recalled a story about Salman Khan, whom he described as the rare 'decent human being' in the film industry.

Anees Bazmee and Salman Khan worked together on the films Ready and No Entry.

Filmmaker Anees Bazmee opened up about Salman Khan’s magnanimity in a recent interview, as he recalled an anecdote that illustrated the generosity of the star. Salman’s charitable nature is often discussed by his peers in the film industry, and just recently, Manisha Koirala spoke about the quiet work that Salman does for cancer patients. This is often seen in contrast to his otherwise no-nonsense demeanour in public. Echoing his colleagues’ sentiments about Salman, Anees recalled the star’s gesture for his son when they were making the film Ready.

Asked what Salman means to him, Anees said, “He is ‘dil’ Khan. What can I say about him? There are very few people in this business whom I can describe as genuinely good human beings. Salman is one of them. He’s a gem of a person. He does little things for people that I don’t think many would, for example, we were shooting for Ready in Sri Lanka.”

Also read – Raj Kapoor was a ‘terror’, assistants would avoid staying in same hotel as him; Anees Bazmee was made to travel 1,000 kms in a truck for 3 days as punishment

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He continued with his anecdote, “Some cricket tournament was happening at the same time. My son was with me. He was around 10 years old at the time. He was such a huge cricket fan, he used to sleep with a bat and ball in the bed next to him. He happened to spot Shoaib Akhtar and Yuvraj Singh, and he kept telling me that he wants to play cricket with them. He said that he wanted Shoaib Akhtar to bowl at him, and I said, ‘Are you mad? Go to sleep’. I was having a word with Bhai, who happened to overhear what my son was saying. He called him over, and my son repeated the same thing to him, that he wanted to play cricket with Shoaib Akhtar.”

After midnight, Salman made a call. And before Anees knew what was happening, Shoaib Akhtar and Yuvraj Singh had turned up along with a few other cricketers to play cricket with his son. He said, “In the lobby of the hotel, there was a cricket match with my son batting, Shoaib Akhtar bowling, and Bhai fielding. Imagine how much love they must have had for Salman to show up at midnight to play cricket with a child. Who else could have pulled it off?”

Anees Bazmee worked with Salman on the film No Entry. He is now directing Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 with Kartik Aaryan in the lead. Salman Khan, on the other hand, was last seen in Tiger 3.

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