Salman Khan feels 'like a monkey in a zoo', says Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat recently recalled his first meeting with Salman Khan. In an interview with Lallantop, he recalled visiting Salman's home, Galaxy Apartments, during the making of Hello, which was based on his novel One Night @ the Call Center.

Bhagat described the experience as surreal, saying it felt like entering a different world. He shared that Salman Khan has an instinct for judging people when he meets them. Recalling their first conversation, Bhagat said, "Salman has a sixth sense. He decides whether he likes a person or not by figuring out how genuine they are—someone who doesn’t want anything from him. If he likes you, he’ll just say, ‘Yeh kya body hai, kal se tu aaraha hai mere saath workout karne’ (What a body you have! From tomorrow, you’re coming to work out with me).”

At that time, Chetan Bhagat was still working at a bank, but Salman Khan took a liking to him right away. Bhagat recalled that Salman even urged him to stay back and collaborate on another project. He said, "I told him I’m just a writer and need to return to my bank job, but he wouldn’t listen. He simply said, ‘Stay back, you’re working on my next movie too.’”

During the promotions of Hello, Chetan Bhagat interviewed Salman Khan and asked how he felt about fans constantly chasing him for photos. Salman openly shared his thoughts, sayig, "Mujhe aisa lagta hai jaise chidiya ghar mein bandar hota hai" (I feel like a monkey in a zoo).

He admitted that while it could be annoying at times, he understood that it was part of being a star. He said, "Kabhi kabhi irritate karta hai, par jis din yeh chala gaya, sab chala gaya” (It feels irritating sometimes, but I know the day this goes, everything goes).”

Bhagat said this statement stayed with him, and he often thinks about it when handling his own fan interactions. Bhagat initially had limited interactions with Salman during Hello, but they became closer when he worked on the screenplay for Kick. He often visited the sets and had many discussions with the actor. Bhagat described Salman as someone who is always genuine and never pretends to be someone he’s not.