Bollywood’s King Shah Rukh Khan is among the actors who received threats from underworld gangsters back in the 1990s. It is being reported that in the 1990s when SRK was at the peak of his career, he was the target of gangster Abu Salem, who was the mastermind behind Gulshan Kumar’s killing. The underworld gangster was miffed with Shah Rukh for declining a film of his Muslim producer friend. During the shoot of his film 'Dil To Pagal Hai', Khan got a call from Abu Salem.
As per the Indian Express report, Abu Salem asked SRK over the phone, “Haan, kya chal raha hai? (What’s going on?).’ The actor responded, “Who’s this?” Salem wasn’t happy with King Khan’s reaction and thus he started abusing him. The 56-year-old actor asked Salem, “What is the problem, sir?.” The gangster told him that he is not happy that he had refused to do a film of a Muslim filmmaker as he had expected him to support and promote the people from his own community. ALSO READ: When Shah Rukh Khan Wanted To Marry Gauri Khan All Over Again! THIS Ad From 90s Is Simply A Nostalgia Hit!
Salem then said, “Log bolte the tu bahut proudy hai lekin tu bada sharif hai. Abhi police ki zaroorat nahin tereko. Main nahin maroonga.” Back then, Abu Salem started calling SRK, though he never asked for money, he would often advise him on what films he should be doing. He would tell the Chak De India star that he knows all about his whereabouts. “He would tell me that he could see me. It was like living under a telescope. It was very depressing and very scary,” Shah Rukh recalled.
Shah Rukh Khan was advised to stay polite with Abu Salem and to refrain from giving out any information to him. This incident is shared in Anupama Chopra’s book, ‘King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema.’