Salim Khan on Salma Khan’s reaction when he told her he wanted to marry Helen: ‘She didn’t say I did something good’

In his upcoming talk show, Arbaaz Khan speaks with a few veterans of the Hindi film industry about their lives. The actor-producer also speaks to his father, screenwriter Salim Khan, about a few personal aspects of his life, including his second marriage to actor-dancer Helen in 1981. Arbaaz reveals that while he could have been angry at his father over this, but over time, he has understood that bringing Helen to his life, and the family, was a good thing. (Also read: Javed Akhtar recalls why he stopped working with Salim Khan: ‘Jab kamyabi ayi, naye log zindagi mein aye aur…’)

Salim Khan first started out as an actor, but only appeared in small roles in films like Teesri Manzil (1966), Sarhaadi Lootera (1966) and Diwaana (1967). Eventually, he assisted writer Abrar Alvi and transitioned into screenwriting. His writing partnership with Javed Akhtar was responsible for some of the biggest hits in Hindi cinema. Arbaaz discussed this and many other personal failures and success stories with his father.

In the new promo for the talk show, The Invincibles with Arbaaz Khan, on Bollywood Bubble, Salim recalls how his affair with Helen was originally an ’emotional accident’. She was in a fix as she was out of work. “She had reached an age where it was difficult to those kinds of roles anymore. She came to me and our work was going really well,” he shared. Within a few days, he got her a few films and they began to spend more time together.

He continued, “She was young, I was also young. Mera koi aisa iraada nahi tha. Maine sirf madat ke liye kiya tha. (I didn’t intend for it to happen. I was just trying to help her out). She started respecting my gestures and attitude. I always say that love is rooted in respect. You cannot love anybody who you don’t respect.”

Salim also revealed that he admitted his affair to his first wife, Salma as Helen didn’t have anyone in her life, and he wanted to support her too. He said, “[Salma] didn’t say you did something good, you should receive an award for it. This is an emotional accident. Kisi ke sath bhi ho sakta hai (It can happen to anybody). Then I managed it.”

Referencing Helen entering their lives, Arbaaz asked about how his children helped him maintain this relationship. Salim said, “I sat down my children and told them this is the problem. But I want to tell you one thing, I know that you can’t love Helen aunty as you love your mother. But I want the same respect (for her).”

Arbaaz replied that at that time what difficulties and complaints they had but, “As we grew older, we saw that we had situations in our life that we could have done the same thing. Wohi cheez jinse mujhe mere baap se naarazgi ho sakti thi, woh meri zindagi mein aa rahi hai, aur time bahut bada factor hota hai, cheezon ko samajne mein (The same thing that I could be angry about with my father, the same is happening in our lives and time is a big factor in understanding them).”

The actor-producer, who was last seen in the SonyLIV web series Tanaav, also asks his father about how his life shaped up . The veteran screenwriter discussed his early confidence in his second career that he would eventually succeed as a writer. He and Javed were equal to the stars of the Hindi films they were writing during their heyday.

The Invincibles with Arbaaz Khan will also feature interviews with Helen, Javed Akhtar, Waheeda Rehman, Shatrughan Sinha and Mahesh Bhatt. The full episode with Salim is out now on the Bollywood Bubble YouTube channel.