Name	Salman Khan
Height	5' 8"
Naionality	Indian
Date of Birth	27 December 1965
Place of Birth	Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Famous for

Few years back, "Peoples" magazine declared him as one of the ten best looking men in the world. But 1998 was also the year this brawny brat flexed his muscles at the Bollywood box office. How? Well, he had three smash hits in a row Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya, Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai and Bandhan. Add to this, a dashing guest appearance in the blockbuster, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In other words, it was the year of reckoning for Salman Khan, who had finally arrived at the pinnacle after being dismissed repeatedly by the trade denizens despite participating in history creating blockbusters over the years.

Salman the eldest son of scriptwriter Salim Khan (of the famous Salim-Javed duo who penned Sholay, Deewar, Zanjeer and many more blockbusters, and created the angry young man icon in Amitabh Bachchan in the 70's) made an inauspicious debut over a decade ago in "Biwi Ho To Aisi". He was ridiculed and made fun of before Sooraj Barjatya's "Maine Pyaar Kiya" turned him into a household name and an heartthrob of millions. Now to think that Sooraj Barjatya was nearly pressurised into dropping Salman from his directorial debut! In fact, even papa Salim confesses that had he been in the young director's place, "I might have been hesitant (to take Salman)." But Sooraj's faith in Salman wasn't shaken and "Maine Pyaar Kiya" turned them both in tinsel town hottest properties. However, despite the film's success, Salman was candid enough to admit that he had made little contribution to the Barjatya blockbuster. In fact, as far as he was concerned, he was just okay giving himself just "three out of ten marks". But that was a pretty good score for somebody who had once upon a time flirted with the dreams of becoming a swimmer or a pilot, and had been dismissed by the film industry. The success of the candy floss love story, was followed by a handful of hits, like "Baaghi", "Sanam Bewafa", "Patthar Ke Phool" and "Saajan". However, the golden run was too good to last. A few bad choices of film roles and his popularity suddenly "nose-dived" in the early 90s, a downward journey that coincided with his unpopularity with a press that found him too intimidating and unapproachable.

And then once again came Sooraj Barjatya to the rescue with "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun". While the movie made box office history, Salman Khan suddenly found a new facet to his acting persona, his flair for seemigly effortless comedy. Though his grim intensity blazed the screen and stole the show in Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun, it was his romantic humorous, yet quite sensitive avatar that Bollywood set out to explore. One of the best results of this exploration was Khamoshi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial debut. The film touched many hearts with its tears-jerking moments underlining the sublime relationship between deaf and dumb parents, played by Nana Patekar and Seema Biswas, and their daughter, portrayed by Manisha Koirala. But the pathos in the film was finely balanced by Salman's breezy presence evoking laughter effortlessly, prompting remarks from industry veterans like Jaya Bachchan, who told a journalist after seeing the film,"Of course, it was Manisha's film but I thought Salman was brilliant". A thought shared by everyone but his hard-nosed detractors within the industry. Critical acclaim and awards don't seem to matter much for this actor with arguably the best physique in Bollywood. In fact, so proud is he of his hard earned body of marathon workouts that Salman leaves no opportunity to display his near-perfect physique on the screen. The best example of course is the song "Oh ho jaane Jaana.. " from "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya", a film directed by his brother Sohail (and also co-starring his younger brother Arbaaz) which was once again a showcase of his immense comic potential. Some say that he is an actor with severe limitations. But Salman Khan has time and again surprised his critics by often rising above the script and its treatment to give the film in his