Salman Khan on Koffee With Karan 9: ‘Nobody stopped me from getting married; I stopped myself’

Salman Khan has finally addressed one of Bollywood’s longest-running questions: why Hindi cinema’s most famous bachelor never walked down the aisle. “Nobody stopped me from getting married; I stopped myself,” the 60-year-old actor said on the premiere episode of Koffee With Karan Season 9, which aired on Wednesday, October 14.

Salman was the first guest of the show’s ninth and final season. He told host Karan Johar that staying single had been entirely his call. “So, you cannot complain that ‘this is what I wanted and the whole world went against me, which is why I couldn’t be with a partner.’ I can’t blame anyone because it was my decision, and I am happy with it.”

He did leave the door open to fatherhood, though. “But yes, kids will come into the picture one day,” he added.

The conversation turned personal when Karan admitted that he sometimes feels lonely without a partner and asked whether Salman ever felt the same. The actor disagreed with the premise. “But you have children, and you have your mother. You are fortunate. You become lonely only when nobody wants to be with you. I don’t think that’s the case.”

Asked whether he felt he was missing out on parenthood, Salman said, “I do want to have children at some point. That’s the most amazing thing, and I was very happy when you had children. So, you can never say you are lonely; you have two beautiful children.”

Salman Khan also used his Koffee With Karan appearance to criticise the way some photographers shoot actresses, saying many female stars are being photographed from inappropriate angles without wanting the attention.

“Girls are uncomfortable,” he said. He separated celebrities who seek out the cameras from those who don’t. “Since PR has come in, some people pay the PR for their sighting or whatever it is called. Their airport look. So there are some people who want to do that stuff. I was not speaking about those kind of people. I was speaking about those people who don’t want it.”

He was particularly annoyed by social media posts that challenge followers to identify a celebrity from a photo taken from behind. “How do you guess?” Salman asked. Karan agreed: “They ask you to guess from the back. It is ridiculous.”

Salman also joked that he would like to thrash whoever came up with the camera phone, since nearly everyone now has one in their pocket. “They have ruined our lives,” he quipped.

Karisma Kapoor joins for rapid fire

Later in the episode, Salman was joined by Karisma Kapoor, his co-star across 13 films. She took part in the rapid-fire round with him and Karan, and Salman won the segment.

The season opener was Salman’s third time on the Koffee couch. He first appeared with his father, Salim Khan, and later returned with his brothers, Arbaaz and Sohail Khan.

On the work front, Salman will next be seen in director Apoorva Lakhia’s Maatrubhumi: May War Rest in Peace.