Salman Khan swam in shark-infested waters for first ad, couldn’t open his eyes, recalls director: ‘I thought he was a child’

Salman Khan shot for his first ad when he was just 15 and he couldn't open his eyes comfortably because of the reflectors.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | September 11, 2025 02:12 PM IST

3 min read

Salman Khan first appeared in an ad at 15.

Salman Khan made his debut in the movies with the 1988 film Biwi Ho To Aisi but way before that, he faced the camera for the first time when he was just 15 for an advertisement for Campa Cola. In a recent interview, the director of that ad, Kailash Surendranath, recalled how Salman was selected for that ad, and recalled how the actor swam in shark-infested waters in Bay of Bengal for an entire day before they changed the location.

In a chat with The Sell Side’s YouTube channel, Kailash recalled that Salman was a last-minute addition to the team and was cast just two days before they left for Andaman and Nicobar Islands to shoot the advertisement. Salman was recommended by a woman on Kailash’s team who had seen him swim at a neighbourhood club. “His story is that he saw her, wanted to impress her, so he dived into the water and came out the other side,” he recalled with a laugh.

But Kailash wasn’t too impressed when he first met Salman. “I thought he was a child because was just 15. I said this guy is a baby compared to everyone else,” he shared and recalled that he was told, “Ask him to take off his shirt.” Kailash realised Salman fit the bill and he became a part of the team.

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He recalled that when Salman faced the camera for the first time, he couldn’t open his eyes because of the reflectors. “The first shot we did with Salman, after the whole night of being awake and fooling around, he couldn’t face the reflectors, he couldn’t open his eyes. This was the first time he was facing a camera in his life. I told the cameraman to switch off all the reflectors. He switched it off and it came out beautifully,” he shared.

After shooting for an entire day in the ocean, Kailash and his team learnt that they had been swimming in shark-infested waters the whole day. “We shot in the boat and the sea the whole day and then the navy guys told us, ‘There are sharks here, what the hell are you doing? So we all jumped into the boat and changed location’,” he recalled with a laugh.

It took Salman almost 8 years to land his first feature after appearing in this ad.

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