‘Salman Khan shouted outside girlfriend’s building, beat up people’: Childhood friend says ‘kind-hearted’ superstar follows heart

Salman Khan’s childhood friend Raju Shreshtha on growing up together

Speaking to Siddharth Kannan, Raju admitted that he knew Salman much before he starred with him in the 1972 film Baaghi. He said, “I know Salman Khan much before Baaghi. We come from the same area. We both come from Bandra. We used to cycle together, when he was doing Patthar Ke Phool, before shooting, he used to practice skating at Bandstand. I used to cycle and he used to hold on to the carrier and practice skating.”

While Raju started acting in films as a child artist, Salman made his debut much later. Talking about the same, Raju said, “Me and Salman are friends from the time when people used to say that See Master Raju is standing and some boy is also standing next to him. So, I am friends with him from the time he was nothing. He has been very nice and kind and very misunderstood. He is a very nice man. After that, he only got me to play a role in Baaghi. We went to shoot for the film in Ooty and years after that, we did Chal Mere Bhai together.”

Master Raju recalls Salman’s reaction when he started calling him ‘aap’

Raju shared that he changed how he addressed his friend Salman after he became a superstar. “When Salman Khan became the Salman Khan and after that when I would meet him… earlier, I used to call him, ‘Salman tu’ and then I started calling him, ‘Bhai aap’. I used to call him ‘Bhai aap’ around people and Salman asked me, ‘Why are you calling me like this?’ But I told him that ‘you have become a mega star and if I call you, ‘Salman tu’, then you will tell Shera (Salman’s bodyguard) not to let me in the next time and will tell him to push me out of the room because you will feel that I am insulting you’.”

Sharing more about their changed dynamic, he said, “We used to talk about about anything. Salman and I have taken baths naked, but I don’t expect this today, he is a big star today. If I now go and be on his set and in his house for all the time, people will call me his chamcha.”

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‘Salman sent big chunk of his earnings in lawyers during black buck case’

Salman Khan was embroiled in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case during the shooting of Chal Mere Bhai. When asked if the star was stressed during the shooting of the film, Raju said, “Yes, he was stressed, but on the face of it, he was not showing, but the environment around him was stressful. There was a time when a major chunk of Salman’s money was going in court case and hiring big lawyers, he had told me a lot of money was being spent there. He had told me that a big chunk of his earnings was going in this. He has always said that he is innocent and to prove that he had to spend so much money and go through so much stress. He told me he didn’t want to do all this.”

‘Salman hurled abuses, shouted while standing under his girlfriend’s building’

Calling Salman ‘happy go lucky’, Raju said, “He was funny, he never thought before saying anything, and he never used to think much before making friends. He is clean at heart. He was not calculative or manipulative. He is a very easy person and that is why he has often been caught in controversies.”

Raju admitted that Salman has misbehaved with women in his life but also defended him, saying that he thinks from his heart. “Salman has never had control over his emotions. Sometimes he would go and hurl abuses while standing under somebody’s building. He shouted while standing under his ex-girlfriend’s building, he would beat up someone so he didn’t control his emotions. He is a very sweet man. He doesn’t work from mind. He works from his heart,” he said. While Raju didn’t clarify which incident he was referring to, Salman Khan reportedly created a scene outside ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai’s home shortly after their breakup in 2002.