Salman Khan said he had no work for 4-5 months after the blockbuster success of Maine Pyar Kiya. He said the film’s lead, Bhagyashree, who got married and quit Bollywood after the film’s release, walked away with all the credit.
Maine Pyar Kiya might have been a milestone in Salman Khan’s career, but ironically, he faced a dearth of films after it released. During an earlier appearance on Aap Ki Adalat, the actor revealed that his co-star Bhagyashree got married, quit films and walked away with all the credit for the film.
Maine Pyar Kiya, which was the directorial debut of Sooraj Barjatya, is the classic rich man-meets-poor girl story, where Prem (Salman) and Suman (Bhagyashree) fall in love but have to overcome differences between their families. The film was loved by critics and the audience alike, and became the highest-grossing film of the 1980s.
On Aap Ki Adalat, Salman said, “Uske baad 4-5 mahine tak koi kaam nahi mila tha mujhe. Aisa lag raha tha ki kaam milega bhi nahi kyunki Bhagyashree madam ne uss waqt decide kar liya tha ki main ab filmein nahi karungi, main shaadi karungi (I did not get any work for four or five months after Maine Pyaar Kiya came out. I thought I would not even get any work because Bhagyashree decided that she would get married and quit films),” he said.
“Aur unhone jaake shaadi kar liya aur poora credit, jo credit hota hai film ka, woh leke bhaag gayi. Aisa laga industry walon ko ki main toh woh thi, yeh toh kuch nahi the (She got married and ran away with the entire credit of the film’s success. Everyone from the industry thought she was the main reason it worked and I was just there),” he added. Following this, his father Salim Khan intervened and asked producer GP Sippy to make an announcement that he had signed Salman for a project. When the announcement was made in a trade magazine, filmmakers and producers rushed to Salman with offers, one of them being Ramesh Taurani. Salman also said that he was paid Rs 31,000 for Maine Pyar Kiya, which was later increased to Rs 75,000 after ‘seeing his hard work’.
Salman made several revelations in the episode, one of them being that he earned Rs 75 as a background dancer at the age of 14, at a show at the Taj Hotel.
While Maine Pyar Kiya was the first success for Salman, he went on to become a reigning star of Hindi cinema and is going strong to this day. The actor is all set to star in Antim, which will release in theatres.