In a candid interview, Salman Khan's co-actor and friend Aasif Sheikh recalled that the Bollywood star was quite a risktaker in his younger days and shared an anecdote from 1998, from the time when they were shooting ‘Bandhan’.
Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hai-fame Aasif Sheikh also said that he shares a warm friendship with Salman who lovingly calls him ‘Sukhandi’ because of his lean body.
Aasif, in an interview with The Lallantop, shared Salman was driving on a foothpath in Mumbai, when he was pulled over by a traffic cop for rash driving. Salman, who was quite confident of walking out of the mess because he was a massive superstar, was caught by surprise when the cop did not recognise him.
“We were young then and Salman had an Esteem at that time. He made me sit next to him and he started driving everywhere on the footpath, on the road. I said, ‘Salman, pakde jayenge (we will get caught).’ He said, ‘Pakde jayenge toh yaar Salman Khan hain ghabrao mat. (Even if we get caught, don’t worry, you are with Salman Khan),” Aasif shared.
Soon after Salman had boasted about this, a traffic cop pulled them over. Aasif chuckled and shared that Salman rolled down the window, but the traffic police actually did not recognise him.
“He was like ‘Isne toh pehchana nahi. Maine kaha shirt utaar shayad pehchan le. (He said he didn’t recognise me. I said remove your shirt; he might recognise you then)” he shared.
Sharing another anecdote of Salman's driving, Aasif said during the shoot of ‘Auzaar’ in Hyderabad, a friend of his came to see him in his brand-new car. To scare the man, Salman Khan drove his car rashly, but since it was a celebrity riding his car, he didn’t really say much. After the drive, Salman laughed it off as he was just messing with the guy.
In 2002, Salman Khan was involved in a hit-and-run case which resulted in the death of one, while three others were injured. In 2015, Salman was acquitted of all charges due to lack of evidence.