‘Salman Khan would never do this’: Paresh Rawal recalls hate piece after mother’s death claiming he was reluctant to attend her funeral

Paresh Rawal has often spoken about the profound impact of losing his mother, who passed away after battling in a coma for days. In a recent interview with Lallantop, the veteran actor opened up about how he was not in town when she passed away, as he was in Sri Lanka shooting for Salman Khan’s film Ready. Paresh shared that he had asked the doctors if he could complete a three-day shoot, to which they assured him that he could go, as she was on life support and not in immediate danger. “Main chala gaya, par Lanka mein mujhe pata chala… my sister called me up and said ki… that our mother is no more… and I decided to come back immediately (I left, but while I was in Lanka, I found out… my sister called and said that our mother is no more… and I decided to come back immediately).”

However, he said there was only one flight available from Colombo to Mumbai at 3 a.m., and he had to wait the entire day to return. Grieving and overwhelmed, he found himself struggling to stay composed. “Abhi main baitha hua tha aur mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha tha (I was sitting there and couldn’t understand anything).” Overcome with emotions, he thought of asking director Anees Bazmee if there was a small scene he could film, hoping that work would momentarily distract him from his grief. “Main kaha kuch hai… scene wagera toh kar daal… warna main mar jaunga… toh ek chota sa scene tha Mahesh Manjrekar ke saath… usne woh kiya phir (I said, is there anything… maybe a scene or something to shoot… otherwise, I’ll die… there was a small scene with Mahesh Manjrekar, and I did that).”

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Upon his return to Mumbai, Paresh was hit by another blow — a newspaper had published a false story claiming that he was reluctant to leave the shoot, and that it was Salman Khan who had convinced him to return for his mother’s funeral. “Woh jisne likhwai toh woh kisi ko please karne ke liye,” (Whoever got that written did it to please someone). He firmly stated that Salman Khan would never have acted that way. “Mujhe achhi tarah yaad hai ki Salman Khan aisa nahi karega… Salman Khan ki family ko achhe se jaanta hoon… unki family true blooded hai (I clearly remember that Salman Khan would never do such a thing… I know Salman Khan’s family well… they are true-blooded).”

Calling the story entirely fabricated, Paresh shared that even some members of his family believed the report and questioned him. “Ghar mein saghe waale toh padhte hai na… unhone kaha yeh kya kiya tune… tumhari maa hai woh… (Family members at home read it… asking, what have you done… she was your mother).” Later, Paresh discovered who was responsible for planting the story. He said that if the person ever came in front of him, they would face serious consequences. He described the incident as “gandagi” (filth) and expressed his disappointment.