Dubai: Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan is recovering in Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital following a minor brain haemorrhage on February 17.
Khan, who is 90, is now stable, though being closely monitored. But as news of his hospitalisation spread, an old interview with Shah Rukh Khan started doing the rounds again, and the gratitude in his words have genuinely moved people.
Why is Salim Khan in the hospital?
Salim Khan, father of actor Salman Khan and one half of the legendary Salim-Javed screenwriting duo, experienced dizziness caused by a sudden spike in blood pressure, which led to internal bleeding on the right side of his brain. He was admitted to Lilavati Hospital, where doctors performed a small procedure to address the issue.
Shah Rukh Khan’s gratitude to the Khan family
Here’s where things get unexpectedly emotional. As news broke, an old 2018 interview with Shah Rukh Khan resurfaced. In the interview with IANS, SRK spoke openly about what the Khan family meant to him when he was a nobody trying to survive in Mumbai.
“I am Shah Rukh Khan today because of Salim Khan,” he said, which is quite a statement coming from arguably the biggest film star in India.
He went on to recall his early days in the city, back when he was still doing television and hoping for a break. “The first time I came to Mumbai as a struggling actor, I had my meals at Salman Khan’s place, where Salim Khan ji supported me a lot. It is because of them I have become ‘Shah Rukh Khan’.”
Before he became, well, Shah Rukh Khan, he was just another hopeful who had moved to Bombay with big dreams and not much else. He made his Bollywood debut with Deewana in 1992, but before that, he was eating meals at the Khan household because that’s where he was welcomed.
The fact that he still speaks about it with such gratitude all these years later says a lot.
A home that was always open
The warmth of the Khan family home isn’t just something Shah Rukh has spoken about.
Actor Sooraj Pancholi had also once described their Galaxy Apartments residence in a way that sounds almost unbelievable by today’s standards.
“Their Galaxy house was always open. Anyone who wanted to come could come. No lock, always open. You could just push it anytime and walk right in. You could open their fridge and eat whatever you want,” Pancholi had told Instant Bollywood.
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