Actor Arjun Kapoor wanted to be a filmmaker before he met Salman Khan. He worked as an assistant director on the sets of Wanted (2009), which was produced by his father Boney Kapoor. Arjun never thought of being an actor because of his obesity, however, Salman took him under his wing and motivated him to lose weight. He also asked him to try his hand at acting.

In a conversation with Raj Shammani, Arjun spoke about how Salman motivated him to become an actor, “My weight-loss journey started because he said give it a shot. He actually made me realise that. I wanted to become a filmmaker. I never thought of becoming an actor because I weighed 150 kgs. So when that conversation happened with him, he said, give it a shot. He saw me dancing and joking and he saw an entertainer in me. This is what planted in me. He helped me through my physical transformation,” he said.

Quashing rumours of Salman being a “bully”, Arjun said that he is a “fun guy”. “He is not a bully. Anybody who has a tough image… When you are not always openly warm in the first few minutes, you feel they are being a certain way. There is a lots of warmth in that man. It’s just he might not give it in the first second. But you will have to allow that to happen.”

Arjun further called Salman the most “fearless man in the world.” “He is the most fearless man in the world. I have never seen him shirk adversity, responsibility. He has not changed. He has always been the same person at the core. He has a very strong mind,” he said.

Arjun had previously dated Salman’s sister, Arpita Khan. Later, he was also in a relationship with the actor’s former sister-in-law, Malaika Arora.