'Salim Khan sent his son to apologise to me': Subhash Ghai on physical fight with Salman Khan

Dubai: Subhash Ghai and Salman Khan eventually became close friends and collaborators, but the veteran filmmaker has revealed their relationship began with a physical altercation, and an intervention from Salman's father, Salim Khan.

Speaking to Times Now, Ghai looked back on the fallout that preceded their 2008 film Yuvvraaj, and the apology that turned a spat into a friendship.

How the film came about

The collaboration itself started with an approach from the family.

"For Yuvvraaj, Salman Khan's brother approached me and said, 'Why don't you make a film with Salman?'" Ghai recalled. "I said, 'Is Salman keen? Because I have never worked with him.' He said, 'He is keen.' After this, I wrote a story. My challenge is that I must cast an actor in a role he has never done before."

The film, which paired Salman with Anil Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, failed to make an impact at the box office.

The scuffle at the party

Before any of that, though, came the fight.

"Before the film, we had a fight. Hatha paai hui (we had a scuffle). Then his father scolded him," Ghai said.

He explained what triggered it. "We were at a party. Salman was saying something wrong when I told him, 'Don't say that.' He had some issue with me. He asked me, 'Why did you do this or that?' I said it is my decision as a director. He started abusing me, I asked him not to do that. We had a spat there."

The argument was serious enough that Salman's father, screenwriter Salim Khan, intervened the following day.

"The very next morning, Salim saheb called me and told me that Salman told all of these things to his mother. He said, 'I have scolded him.' He sent Salman to my house to apologise to me. And he came," Ghai said.

The apology, and the reason behind it, is what changed everything for the filmmaker. "He politely apologised, after which I fell in love with him because he respected his father so much. I let go of that issue. We often visited each other. After that, we did a film together."

Why Yuvvraaj did not work

Reflecting on the film's failure, Ghai offered a candid theory: that Salman's own star power may have overwhelmed the character.

"Sometimes these characters don't work because the star dominates the character. He plays himself rather than the character. Stars become a caricature of their own after a point. How many times can you repeat yourself?" He contrasted this with Amitabh Bachchan. "Hats off to Bachchan sir that he has done so many characters."

A lasting respect

Despite the rocky beginning, Ghai has repeatedly praised Salman over the years.

Speaking to WildFilmsIndia previously, the filmmaker said, "Salman Khan never gets nervous no matter what. No matter the number of crises and problems in his life, he might become sad, but never nervous."

He also recalled Salman politely declining interviews during the Yuvvraaj promotions, with the actor explaining his reasoning at the time. "If you are saying, I will do it, but I usually don't because media interviews expect us to be politically correct. And if I end up uttering something incorrect about the film, people or myself, it will become a huge controversy. I am happy alone and I like to stay away from the media," Salman had said.