Actors Salman Khan and Sangeeta Bijlani had dated for about eight years.
Salman Khan and Sangeeta Bijlani started dating in 1986. The two were in a serious relationship for eight years before they called it quits.
Actor Pradeep Rawat, who has worked with Salman Khan in films like Tiger Zinda Hai, Baaghi: A Rebel for Love, and others, has opened up about his relationship with the Bollywood superstar. Pradeep was once a part of Salman’s “inner circle” and closely witnessed his break-up with actors Somy Ali and Sangeeta Bijlani.
During an interaction with Siddharth Kannan, Pradeep spoke at length about how Salman left both Somy and Sangeeta “heartbroken” after the break-ups, and also shared why he gradually distanced himself from Salman’s inner circle.
“Salman Khan wasn’t affected much. Somy Ali was affected a lot by their break-up. Salman is so good-looking that he doesn’t have a dearth of options. They were my friends and we would sit together, eat together… both of them would tell me their side of the story,” he said in the interview.
When asked about Sangeeta Bijlani’s reaction after her breakup with Salman, Pradeep Rawat said, “Obviously, Sangeeta was affected more. Who would want to lose a human being like Salman?” In response to whether Salman was a heartbreaker, he said, “Sometimes things happen unknowingly and there were some misunderstandings. Salman is a very clean and neat-hearted person; he cannot hurt anyone.”
Explaining the reason behind distancing himself from Salman’s inner circle, the Sarfarosh actor said, “I didn’t meet Salman for years because I thought that if I stayed with him for a long time then his bodyguard Shera wouldn’t have a place. I would end up as his bodyguard. I thought I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything if I remained in this comfort. So, I slowly came out of Salman’s inner circle.”
In the same interview, Pradeep also revealed that director AR Murugadoss originally wanted to cast Salman in Ghajini. Ghajini starred Aamir Khan and Asin in lead roles and became a blockbuster. The strong and gripping storyline with major twists and the actor’s stellar performance earned accolades from viewers and critics. It is a Hindi remake of a Tamil movie of the same name. The Tamil version starred Suriya, Asin and Nayanthara.