Saajan Director Reveals How Much Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt Were Paid | Find Out Here

Salman Khan once did a film for just Rs 5,000. Lawrence D’Souza, film director and cinematographer, got all nostalgic in a chat with Friday Talkies, giving out the details about the time he and his producer friend signed Salman Khan for just Rs 5,000. This was right after they caught a glimpse of him in Maine Pyar Kiya back in 1989. Lawrence remembered Salman’s early days, saying that director and producer S Ramanathan had signed him for a mere Rs 5000 — only for the film to never actually get made. Even as Salman’s star power soared, the same thing kept happening! Salman himself started wondering why the producer kept giving him signing amounts without actually making a movie.

He said, “We went for the trial of Maine Pyar Kiya at Rajshri; me, S Ramanathan and Prayagraj, they had kept a special trial (screening) for the three of us. When I watched the film, initially mazaa nahi aaya (I didn’t enjoy it much), but as the film went on, I started liking him in the movie. After watching the film, S Ramanathan, with whom I was doing a film called Pratiksha, I was the director an cameraman, said, ‘Lawrence, let’s sign Salman, usko bula lo (call him). So I called Salman at his office near Raj Babbar’s office in Juhu. We paid Salman a signing amount of Rs 5,000. S Ramanathan should have started the film, but went quiet after paying him.”

S Ramanathan, known for films like Bombay to Goa (1972) and Mahaan (1983), had quite the saga with Salman Khan. According to Lawrence, after missing out on the chance to make a film with Salman the first time, Ramanathan paid the actor Rs 5,00,000 for another project—which also never happened. “After that Salman delivered a bigger hit, S Ramanathan woke up again. Then we paid Salman Rs 5,0,0000. S Ramanathan went quiet again. After that one more film of Salman was a hit and we called him. Salman then said, ‘What kind of a person is he? He pays me money and then he does nothing!’”

Lawrence also talked about his 1991 hit Saajan, which starred Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Sanjay Dutt. He mentioned that he was paid Rs 8 lakh to direct the film, while Salman and Madhuri each got Rs 11 lakh, and Sanjay received Rs 12 lakh. Interestingly, Bollywood’s bhaijaan, Salman Khan’s net worth now stands at an approximate Rs 2,900 crore according to Forbes. Salman Khan, 58, will be next seen in A.R. Murugadoss’ Sikandar.