Reportedly, Hotmail
co-founder Sabeer Bhatia once found himself in an unexpected face-off with Salman Khan over his admiration for actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Over two decades ago, Bhatia found himself amid link-up rumours with Ash after candidly expressing his fondness for the beauty and desire to marry her.

According to the throwback report this bold proposal of sorts didn’t go unnoticed by Salman Khan, who allegedly confronted the businessman at a party in 2001.

Khan allegedly approached Bhatia and said, “So you’re the guy who wants to marry Ash?” Taken aback, Bhatia, who was accompanied by television host Simi Garewal, tried to dismiss the comment as media-fuelled rumour. But Khan continued, adding, “She’s a very nice girl.”

The report goes on to state that while posing for photographs, Salman stepped amid Bhatia and a woman. While wrapping his arm around the lady, the actor accidentally stubbed his cigarette against Bhatia’s hand.

While Bhatia immediately brushed off the ash, the actor reportedly quipped, “Oops. Finally, you’ve got ‘ash’ on your hands.”
The exchange raised quite a few eyebrows at that time around.

It was in 2002, that the Salman-Aishwarya romance reportedly came to an end. That year also marked their last film together –
‘Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam’. Ash later went on to marry Abhishek Bachchan, with whom she shares a daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan.

News Edit KV Raman