‘I stayed at Salman Khan’s home for 6 months’: Pradeep Rawat got ‘too comfortable’ at Galaxy

He added, “He used to attend a lot of parties. I never even owned the kind of suits those events required. Whenever it was a big party, they’d even rent a suit for me.” However, Rawat said he eventually distanced himself from Salman because he felt he had become too comfortable with that lifestyle. He believed he needed to step away and focus on building his own career.

“I didn’t meet Salman for a very long time. I felt that if I stayed with him for too long, there wouldn’t be any space for Shera, who is now his chief bodyguard. I would’ve probably just remained in that role myself. I told myself that this comfortable life. I mean comfortable in the sense that during your struggling days you are getting food, a place to stay, and people to hang out with? What else do you need? It wasn’t helping me achieve anything. I felt that I shouldn’t get too comfortable living like that.”

‘Salman Khan sitting beside a bank clerk’

In the same conversation, Rawat recalled meeting Salman years later. He said the superstar appeared upset that he had cut off contact with him. “Many years later, I ran into Salman. He was driving his big car, and I was in my Maruti van. He spotted me, and I spotted him. He stopped his car right in the middle of the road. So I had to stop mine too. Traffic came to a standstill. Within moments, people recognised Salman and the whole place filled up. He got out of his car, I got out of mine, and we walked toward each other. He hugged me and said, ‘Where have you been? You’ve completely disappeared!'”

He added, “By then the crowd had grown huge. The traffic police arrived, regular police showed up, and people gathered from everywhere. He asked, ‘Where are you these days? Very bad.’ I said, ‘I’m shooting here and there.’ He said, ‘Okay, brother. Come and meet me.'” Rawat also recalled that there was a time when Salman would visit him at the bank where he worked as a clerk before making it big in films.

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“There was a period when he spent a lot of time with me. That’s why he never wanted me to leave. Sometimes I’d be at the bank, and you won’t believe it, Salman Bhai would actually come there, open the door, walk into the bank, and sit on the chair right next to me while I was working. Imagine that, Salman Khan sitting beside a bank clerk inside a bank office.”

Following Rawat’s death, Salman Khan paid tribute to his former co-star on social media by sharing a photograph of the two together. He wrote, “Shared many good moments with you brother… May you rest in peace.”

Rawat died following a relapse of cancer. His manager told The Indian Express that the actor, who had successfully battled stomach cancer four years ago, was hospitalised in July this year after being diagnosed with blood cancer. However, his platelet count suddenly dropped to 6,000 per micro litre, leading to his death at a cancer speciality hospital in Bhiwandi, Mumbai. He is survived by his wife, Kalyani Rawat, and their 18-year-old son, Vikramaditya.