Over the years various stories and beliefs have surfaced about the superstar Salman Khan’s anger issues. Recalling one such unexpected moment from the sets of the 1999 film, Sheeba Chaddha opens up. “Salman Khan is quite… temperamental,” said the actor Sheeba Chaddha while sharing memories from her first film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. In conversation with Siddharth Kannan, the veteran actress recalled how Salman’s unpredictable behaviour made an early impression on her.
“I remember a few incidents. This was long back. So, something happened that made Salman trip. It was a track or something. Either Salman tripped or fell, or something happened, and I remember him storming out of the set. He just stormed out of the set… He slammed the door, and there was a poor old lightman who got hit I think. But yes, he stormed off. I remember thinking, ‘Baap re, is this how stars behave?’”
Despite the chaos, Sheeba clarified that she wasn’t really personally affected as she thanks to her theatre background. “I can tell you that it didn’t affect my performance at all; I had to do my job with complete sincerity and honesty. I can’t be thinking about my co-actor; if I do, I will not be present in that moment.”
She also recalled a key scene in which both Salman and Aishwarya Rai were supposed to hug her. “Aishwarya agreed to do so, Salman refused. He said, ‘I won’t hug.’ I’m sure he must have had his reasons. I’m not interested in that,” she said. “It was between the director and actor. My only concern was that the scene should get completed.”
While Sheeba didn’t feel intimidated by Bhansali, she acknowledged his strong passion for filmmaking but it was Salman’s behaviour that truly stood out in her memory.
