Salman Khan withheld payments for Dabangg, left Anurag Kashyap’s brother neck-deep in debt; Rs 21 lakh car he received as gift still in Arbaaz Khan’s name

Director Abhinav Kashyap said that Salman Khan and his brothers delayed his payments during Dabangg, and then shortchanged him at the end by offering him a car in lieu of a certain amount he was owed.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: September 19, 2025 12:47 PM IST

4 min read

Salman Khan in a still from Dabangg. (Photo: Express Archive)

Director Abhinav Kashyap said that Salman Khan and his family delayed paying him the money he was owed for directing Dabangg, and when they actually got him to sign a proper contract after production was nearly complete, he discovered that he’d been shortchanged by Rs 21 lakh. Instead, Arbaaz Khan told him that they would gift him a car worth the same amount. Abhinav said that he received the car in front of photographers, and that the family behaved as if it was being generous towards him. The car is lying unused because it’s still in Arbaaz’s name, he said in a new interview with Bollywood Thikana.

Abhinav, who happens to be the brother of director Anurag Kashyap, said that he didn’t have a number in mind when it came to payments, but Sohail Khan assured him that he would be taken care of. “We will give you Rs 51 lakh,” he remembered being told. But besides the Rs 10 lakh he was paid as a signing amount, the rest of the money didn’t come in. “Arbaaz Khan is such a ‘leechad aadmi’, he asked me how much I’d like to be paid for the film; I folded my hands and said that getting the opportunity to make the movie was enough, and I would gratefully accept whatever amount they had in mind. Sohail said, ‘We will give you Rs 51 lakh’,” Abhinav said.

He said that he has still not asked for even one rupee from Arbaaz, but he was happy when they said they’d pay him Rs 51 lakh, because it was ‘a good amount’. Abhinav said that Arbaaz told him to quit whatever other work he was doing in television, and that the brothers would ‘set him up’. “I was given Rs 1 lakh after I did a new draft of the script. But then, for two years, I received nothing. The money came when the movie was nearly complete. I was loaded in debt up to my neck. My credit cards were full. They were making me needy on purpose,” he said.

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Abhinav said that when the post-production was happening, they called him in to do some ‘paperwork’. He happened to look at the amount mentioned, which was Rs 30 lakh, and Arbaaz noticed his pause. After he’d signed the contracts anyway, Arbaaz approached him and said, “I know you must be wondering why the amount is Rs 30 lakh and not Rs 51 lakh. But we’ll give you a car worth Rs 21 lakh instead.” Abhinav continued, “I said okay. They gave me a Chevrolet Captiva, and they made a whole show of it in front of the press. They had an event at the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, where they made me pose with a large key and accept the car.”

Abhinav said that the car is ‘rotting’ outside his house, and that he hasn’t used it in eight years because Arbaaz might ask for it back. “It’s still in his name,” he said, adding, “Everything is done for effect.” Abhinav’s falling out with the Khans led to him not being involved in either of Dabangg’s two sequels. He went on to direct Besharam, starring Ranbir Kapoor, but the film flopped at the box office.

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