I carried stone to stop my car: Salman Khan

Salman Khan’s magic never stops…so much so that German car major Audi recently gifted him a sleek white Audi Q7 to acknowledge the success of his 2011 blockbuster Bodyguard.

Sreya Basu chats up the actor in Mumbai to find more about his automobile adventures

How does it feel to own a new Audi car? 
These Audi people are really good men yaar. I used Audi car in Bodyguard and now got one for my own…kaamal ho gaya. I just pray I get a new car in and after every film.

So that gaadi ka phatka na parein. I have quite some (bad) experiences with cars in real life…not similar ones though. But hope this kind of functions (car gifting events) happen to me every day…morning, noon, evening and night.

What do you have to say about the car? 
We used this car (model) throughout the film. It’s a beautiful car. Even Katrina Kaif has this car.

What was your first car? 
My first car was a Herald. It was used in a film which my father (Salim Khan) wrote. It was Zamana (1985). Mr Rishi Kapoor rode the care in the movie.

How was the experience with your first car?
After the shooting of Zamana was over, I got the car to drive. It was in such a bad condition…there was no flooring board, every time you lift the clutch, the joint board used to break, there was no handle on the doors.

So I used to put these chitkanis, the ones you have on your doors at home…not the knob ones but the old, bolt-and-action ones, on the doors of my car.

The breaks also kept failing all the times. So I used to carry stones in my car to stop it. For that reason we could never drive the car very fast. Also the bonnet of the car used to open up from time-to-time.

I remember, once we were going to a moat indigo party, it (bonnet) opened up and smashed the head of a friend who got about nine-stitches at that time. The party got cancelled and we never went for a moat indigo party since then.

You also had a motorcycle?
Yes, I also had a motorcycle. Am sure you heard of Dilawar Khan? The stunt guy? He had an engine lying somewhere. The other fat friend of mine Salim, who has acted in many films with me, also used to have a lot of motorcycles.

I got some tyres and engine from Dilawar Khan, and all other parts from Salim. Then I spent about eight months getting that motorcycle ready. I was going to (St) Xavier’s, I met Salim on my way…I waved to him and said: “It’s the same motorcycle dude.”

I came back the next morning…the motorcycle was missing. He used it for a stunt in the Filmcity lake and it was gone. That was the end of that story.

You also used your personal car in Maine Pyar Kiya. What was the story behind it? 
After the Herald and the motorcycle, I got another car that used to be parked next to a friend’s building. I bought that for Rs 15, 000. I swear on God, I have pushed that car more than I drove it. Every time the car used to fail.

We got it repaired and used the same car in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989, Salman’s debut as hero). It was a French Fiat and it had a similar shape of a Mercedes. So I put the Mercedes emblem in front of that car.

So, the car worked after that?
In that car also, the day we were supposed to shoot, we were driving down Altar Mount Road, one tyre burst and went straight into the railing. And the whole car got destroyed.

We sent the car back and got it repaired again and then used it for Maine Pyar Kiya. As soon as the film was over, I went for the shooting of Baaghi: A Rebel for Love (1990), and sold the car. So she also left.

Now from there to doing a movie like Bodyguard, which has been appreciated so much, and now the Audi coming in with us and we get a car which is chakachak…a nice, brilliant baby.

So I am sure we won’t have any problems with this car…like the brakes are not working, joint boards breaking, flooring board problems, or doors won’t have locks. We have everything here now…it’s a fully loaded Q star.