Salman Khan: Nana’s 5-Year Silence With Salim Wasn’t About Religion

On the latest Bigg Boss 20 Weekend Ka Vaar, Salman Khan paused the game talk to revisit a wound from his parents’ early married life. The story he told was not about religion, but about the film industry’s old reputation and a grandfather’s stubborn pride.

A five-year family freeze

Salman recalled that after his mother Sushila Charak married Salim Khan, his maternal grandfather simply stopped speaking to his father. The silence lasted five years. Salman put it plainly: there was no religious objection, as many might assume. His nana was upset because Salim was a good-looking man who wanted to become an actor and was already part of the film world.

“Jab mere mata-pita ki shaadi hui, toh usmein koi religious connotation nahi tha,” Salman said, which translates to “there was no religious connotation in it.” His grandfather’s real worry was practical: how would his daughter live in that mahaul, that environment?

The jalebi visit that ended the silence

The distance finally closed after Sohail Khan was born. Salman described his nana travelling from Mahim to Bandra with a box of jalebis. When he arrived, he owned his mistake, saying he regretted missing his grandchildren growing up.

• Nana did not speak to Salim Khan for five years after the wedding.
• The issue was the film industry, not interfaith marriage.
• The thaw came with Sohail’s birth and a jalebi box from Mahim to Bandra.

Salman also remembered the rule his nana set for his mother: she was welcome to visit anytime, but not if she came home after a fight.

A blended family that came around

Salim and Sushila raised Salman, Sohail, Arbaaz, Alvira and Arpita. Salim later married Helen, and in earlier interviews Salman has spoken about how his mother accepted Helen and the children gradually embraced her. That wider acceptance makes the five-year coldness in the marriage’s early days all the more striking.

Salman often uses Weekend Ka Vaar to turn contestant behaviour into a lesson. This time the lesson came from his own family album, and it landed differently: a reminder that Bollywood’s golden families also had to win over sceptical elders one jalebi box at a time.

Source: The Times of India