Salman Khan

Salman Khan , born Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan on December 27, 1965 is an actor who appears in Bollywood movies. Khan, who made his acting debut with the film Biwi Ho To Aisi , had his first commercial success with the blockbuster Maine Pyar Kiya , and won a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance. He went on to star in some of Bollywood's biggest hits, such as Saajan , Hum Aapke Hain Kaun , Biwi No.1 having appeared in the highest earning films of five separate years during his career. In 1999, Khan won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for his extended appearance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai , and since then has starred in several critical and commercial successes, including Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam , Tere Naam , No Entry and Partner . Khan has thus established himself as one of the most prominent leading actors of Hindi cinema.

Salman Khan made his acting debut in the 1988 film Biwi Ho To Aisi where he played a supporting role. His first leading role in a Bollywood movie was in Sooraj R. Barjatya's romance Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). The film went on to become one of India's highest grossing films. It also won him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award, and a nomination for Filmfare Best Actor Award. 1990 saw only one film release of Khan, Baaghi, co-starring along with south actress Nagma. The film was a box office success, and it was followed by another successful year in 1991, when he starred in two hit films, Sanam Bewafa and Saajan. Despite this tremendous beginning at the box office, all of his next 1992-1993 releases resulted in box office failures. However, Khan significantly restored his success in 1994, with his second venture beside director Sooraj Barjatya in the romance Hum Aapke Hain Koun, co-starring Madhuri Dixit. The film was the biggest hit of that year, and turned out a one of Bollywood's highest grossing films ever, placed as the fourth top earner of all times. Apart from being a commercial success, the film was widely acclaimed and Khan was praised for his performance, earning his second nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare. Three more releases featured Khan in 1994, none of which succeeded to make a box-office impact, as did the previous. Once again he reinvented his success with Rakesh Roshan's 1995 blockbuster Karan Arjun, co-starring along with Raakhee, Shahrukh Khan, Kajol and Mamta Kulkarni. The film was the second biggest hit of the year, and his role of Karan once again put his name among the nominees for the Best Actor award at the Filmfare, which was eventually won by his Karan Arjun co-star Shahrukh Khan. 1996 was followed by two successes. The first one was Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directional debut Khamoshi: The Musical, co-starring alongside Manisha Koirala, Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas. Though a box office failure, the film was critically acclaimed. He next starred alongside Sunny Deol and Karisma Kapoor in Raj Kanwar's action hit Jeet. He had only two releases in 1997: Judwaa and Auzaar. The former was a comedy directed by David Dhawan co-starring Karisma Kapoor, where he played a double role of twins who were separated at birth. The film was a box office hit. The latter, co-starring Shilpa Shetty failed to do well, but developed a cult following after its video release. Khan worked in five different films in 1998, the first being the comedy Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya opposite Kajol, one of the biggest commercial successes of that year. This was followed by the moderately successful drama Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai. Khan played a young man who has to take a child who claims to be his son, under his custody. Khan's performance in the film earned him several positive notices and favourable reviews from critics. He lastly starred in Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Co-starring alongside Sharukh Khan and Kajol, he only had an extended special appearance, playing the role of Aman. However, it eventually turned out beneficial to him, as his performance earned him his second Filmfare Award under the Best Supporting Actor category. He then starred in many hits including Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999), Biwi No.1 (1999), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Tere Naam (2003), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004) and No Entry (2005). Khan started his year in 2007 successfully, as his first release, Partner, has done very well at the box office, receiving a blockbuster verdict. He next appeared in his first Hollywood movie, Marigold: An Adventure in India opposite American actress Ali Larter. Telling the love story of a man and an American woman, the film was a major failure, both commercially and critically. Recently he appeared in Saawariya where he made an extended special appearance.

Khan is the eldest son of celebrated screenwriter Salim Khan and his first wife Salma Khan. His stepmother is Helen, a famous yesteryear Bollywood actress, who has co-starred with him in Kahmoshi: The Musical and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. He has two brothers, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan, and two sisters, Alvira and Arpita. Alvira is married to actor/director Atul Agnihotri. Khan is a dedicated bodybuilder. He trains everyday and is famous for taking off his shirt in movies and stage shows alike. In 2004, he was voted 7th best-looking man in the World and the best looking man in India by People magazine, U.S. Khan has been involved in several charities during his career. Despite being romantically linked with several actresses, and having relationships with ex-girlfriends Aishwarya Rai, Somy Ali and Sangeeta Bijlani, Khan is frequently featured by media as Bollywood's most eligible bachelor. He has been dating actress Katrina Kaif since 2005, with whom he has co-starred in several films. On October 11, 2007, Khan accepted an offer from Madame Tussauds wax museum in London to have a wax replica made of himself. His life-size wax figure was finally installed there on January 15, 2008, making him the fourth actor to have been replicated as a wax statue in the museum.

His turbulent relationship with actress Aishwarya Rai was a well publicised topic in the media, and had constantly filled gossip columns. After their break-up in March 2002, Rai accused him of harassing her. She claimed that Khan had not been able to come to terms with their break-up and was hounding her; her parents lodged a complaint against him. In 2005, news outlets released what was said to be an illicit copy of a mobile phone call recorded in 2001 by the Mumbai police. It appeared to be a call in which he threatened his ex-girlfriend, Aishwarya Rai, in an effort to force her to appear at social events held by Mumbai crime figures. The call featured boasts of connections to organized crime and derogatory comments about other actors. However, the alleged tape was tested in the government's Forensic lab in Chandigarh, which concluded that it was a fake.