Salman Khan stated Salim Khan was unimpressed with his performance in Baghban and compared it to a blind guy in a previous meeting.
Salman Khan has portrayed a number of roles since making his Bollywood debut in 1988, but the 1990s were defined by his portrayal of the hero who is innocent, kind, and polite. The role was revived by Bollywood’s Bhaijaan when he played Alok Malhotra in Ravi Chopra’s 2003 film Baghban. At the time, he was generally known as Prem.
Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Samir Soni, Nasir Khan, Divya Dutta, Rimi Sen, Paresh Rawal, and numerous other actors also appeared in this family drama as supporting players. The movie was well received upon release and, as a result of its television airing, is now considered as something of a cult classic.
In a past conversation with Sooraj Barjatya, Salman Khan once revealed his dad, Salim Khan’s reaction after seeing him play Alok on screen. As reported by Indian Express, the acclaimed writer felt his son was terrible and looked blind in it. Salman shared, “I had a problem in Baghban as well where my father said, ‘Why are you looking blind?’ I asked, ‘Blind?’” Bhaijaan added that, as per Salim Khan, he was ‘not looking like a nice man’ but instead looked ‘artificial.’
Salman Khan stated that he believed that the niceness and humility that he was trying to portray on screen did not look genuine. He stated that even though the audience appreciated the character, he knew he had “failed miserably.” He said, “I played that very wrong. It was appreciated and everything but I understood as an actor that I’ve failed miserably in that and my father caught it.”
Salman Khan played Alok Malhotra in Baghban, an orphan youngster who Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini’s characters adopted as their fifth son. He reunites with his elderly adopted parents and lavishly loves them after a salesperson degrades the old couple during a romantic holiday away from their biological children.
