Salman Khan Recalls His Nana's Five-Year Rift With Salim

Salman Khan has shared what ABP Live called a little-known story about his parents' marriage on Bigg Boss 20. During a Weekend Ka Vaar episode reported by several outlets on Oct. 18, the host said his maternal grandfather was so unhappy about his parents' marriage that he did not speak to Salim Khan for five years. Salman was clear that religion had nothing to do with it. The objection, he said, was about the film industry. Here is what he said on the show, how outlets reported it, and what the anecdote leaves out.

How the story came up

The Indian Express reports that the conversation began with the show's zero-tolerance policy and a broader point Salman was making about people who are quick to take offence and later regret it. To make the point personal, he told contestants that he had recently apologised to his father.

"We all have regrets, and then we repent. Like the other day, I was talking to my father; we were chilling, and I told him, as a son, if I have said anything at any given point of time or I have failed you, then I am really sorry," Salman said, according to The Indian Express.

Contestant Aasif Khan then spoke about a fight with his brother that he regrets, the paper reports. Salman's advice was to settle such things immediately. "Don't let time pass," he said, as quoted by The Indian Express. The paper adds that Mahhi Vij, Kanika Mann and other contestants became emotional while talking about their own parents.

The grandfather who would not speak

It was in this setting that Salman told the story of his nana. Hindustan Times, The Indian Express and The Economic Times carry near-identical English renderings of his words.

"Let me tell you, when my parents got married, there was no religious connotation. Only my (maternal) grandfather was upset because my mom was marrying a good-looking man who aspires to be an actor. His objection was that she was getting married to someone from the film industry," Salman said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

He added that his mother's siblings were fine with the match and liked his father, but that his grandfather wondered how his daughter would live in that atmosphere. ABP Live, which carried the original Hindi lines, quotes him as saying, "Unhone mere papa se paanch saal baat nahi ki," meaning he did not talk to his father for five years.

Sweets from Mahim, and a lasting regret

According to Salman, the silence ended when his younger brother Sohail Khan was born. "When Sohail was born, my nana came from Mahim to Bandra with sweets," he said, as quoted by The Indian Express. ABP Live's version of the Hindi quote specifies a box of jalebis.

Salman said his grandfather then admitted he had made a mistake and had missed his grandchildren growing up. "He had this regret till his last breath," Salman said, according to Hindustan Times and The Indian Express.

He also shared a detail that shows the old man's firm sense of family rules. Once or twice, Salman said, when his parents fought and his mother went back to her parents' home, his grandfather would not let her in. "Go back to your house; you can come anytime, but you will not come here after fighting," Salman quoted him as saying, in the version reported by The Indian Express.

Salim and Salma, as the record has it

Hindustan Times reports that Salman's mother was born Sushila Charak, that she and Salim lived in apartments opposite each other before they fell in love, and that the couple married in 1964. The Economic Times puts the wedding in November 1964. After the marriage, Hindustan Times says, she took the name Salma. The couple have four children: Salman, Arbaaz, Sohail and Alvira Agnihotri.

Salim Khan later married actor and dancer Helen. Hindustan Times and The Economic Times date that marriage to 1981, while ABP Live gives 1980. The Economic Times also recalls an old interview in which Helen said the children were hostile towards her at first and reacted the way their mother did. Hindustan Times notes that the family has since spoken often about the close bond they share.

What the anecdote does not tell us

Salman did not name his grandfather on the show, and none of the reports we read identify him. Salman also did not give the years involved beyond the five-year figure, so the exact timeline of the rift and the reconciliation rests on his account alone.

There has been no separate comment from Salim Khan, Salma Khan or other family members on the episode in the coverage we found. Readers should treat the story as a son's memory of family events, shared on a reality show, rather than a documented history.

What is clear is why it struck a chord. Salman often ends up sharing anecdotes from his personal life with Bigg Boss contestants, as Hindustan Times points out. This one, about a grandfather who held out against a film family and then came round with sweets, offered a more private picture of the Khan household than fans usually see.

Sources

Cover photo: Laura Lee Dooley, Wikimedia Commons, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-IIFA2017_-_NYC_%2835081873284%29.jpg](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-IIFA2017_-_NYC_%2835081873284%29.jpg) (CC BY 2.0).