Salman Bhai,
One
afternoon in 1989, I stepped out in Patna after watching Maine Pyar Kiya. Aamir Khan's film Qayamat Se
Qayamat Tak had released the year before.
Watching that movie was an impromptu decision as well. In two years, I found
two heroes - Aamir Khan and you. Your films became a part of my life. In 1991,
when Saajan released,
I had moved to Delhi. At that time, you appeared like a novice. You hesitated
to speak, but when you were unable to talk, your body spoke with an
articulate language. An intense look trumped the inability to speak and would
take cinema-goers along. You looked honest, and spoke with calmness.
In 1994,
your film Hum Aapke Hain
Kaun released and I liked it a lot. It was similar to Maine Pyaar
Kiya. Baghban was
also from this genre of family-oriented Hindi cinema. But later, I read
criticism of Baghban and
these other films, and felt they entertain, but don't leave a lasting impact,
and we as cinema-goers sometimes naively are so moved by emotion that we lose
objectivity. But that ability to connect at such an emotional and immediate
level meant you started becoming my hero. After Govinda, if any other actor had
a mass following, it was you.
