A Murugadoss’ viewpoint on Salman Khan’s conduct opens a ‘quandary on star tantrums
A Murugadoss’ viewpoint on Salman Khan’s conduct opens a ‘quandary on star tantrums
A Murugadoss who has earlier collaborated with Salman Khan corroborates his claims. Salman Khan never arrives on set before 2–3 pm for the morning shift. He goes for his lunch, takes a nap, and shoot doesn’t begin before 5 pm. Most filmmakers find it impossible to work with him. But producers like Sajid Nadiadwala allow Salman to do what he likes. He has never been given a reason to transform.
This isn’t for the first time Salman’s conduct has cost a project. In 2019, Sanjay Leela Bhansali shelved the
Salman-starrer “Inshallah” following repeated interference and delays from the actor. Bhansali, who had earlier collaborated with Salman on two of his finest works Khamoshi” and “Hum” Dil De Chuke Sanam” took the instant decision to shelve the film and vowed never to work with him again.
While Salman and Bhansali share close camaraderie, the filmmaker has drawn a professional line. In 2022, when Salman pitched a film that would unite him and Shah Rukh Khan under Bhansali’s direction, the director declined outright. His viewpoint was blunt: “Shah Rukh, yes. Salman, never!”
But Salman is hardly the first superstar for his conduct. Earlier it was Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar, and Shatrughan Sinha who were repeat offenders.
Sharmila Tagore, who worked extensively with all three, recalls, “If she was shooting with Kaka (Rajesh Khanna), Haribhai (Sanjeev Kumar), or Shatru (Shatrughan Sinha), she made sure she reached for the morning shift only after lunch, or sometimes much later. It was annoying at first to wait for hours, but after working with them repeatedly, she got used to their eccentric timings.
However, Shatrughan Sinha, defends himself, saying that he had an acute low blood pressure problem for which he had to do yoga every morning. Combined with late nights, that made him arrive late. But once he came on set, never left until work was done. Haven’t his heroines confirmed this? The great Dilip Kumar saab once gave him the lesson of a lifetime amidst the “Kranti” shoot. He came at his usual SST (Shatru Standard Time), and as she entered, saw him waving from his car as he left.
In contrast, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Aamir Khan are famously punctual. But for many others, late arrivals have been normalized.
Hema Malini, the only female star of her era who commanded as much clout as her male co-stars, recalled that she refused to tolerate such behaviour, “With her, the notorious latecomers came on time. When one actor arrived three hours late on the first day of shooting, she told him she was going home and warned that if he wasn’t punctual the next day, she would walk out of the film. He was on time the very next day.
Hema believes co-actors are partly to blame for superstar tantrums. “If the director and co-stars make it clear that such delays are unacceptable, stars would stop. It’s the industry’s silence that enables them.”
Murugadoss’s remarks may have stirred controversy, but they also showcase a long-suppressed truth about Bollywood’s star culture: punctuality and professionalism are optional for some, and non-negotiable for others.
News Edit KV Raman
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