
Salman Khan recently appeared on the first episode of The Great Indian Kapil Show (Season 3) on Netflix. During the show, he shared an interesting story about his famous hairstyle from the 2003 movie Tere Naam.
He said that his long hair in the film, parted in the middle, was actually inspired by former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Salman explained, “The look from Tere Naam was inspired by Abdul Kalam sir. At that time, actor Rahul Roy also had the same hairstyle. I thought small-town heroes usually have long hair. Even old-time film heroes had long hair, so that’s where the idea came from.”

In Tere Naam, Salman played the role of Radhe Mohan, an unemployed man who often gets into fights but stands up for what he thinks is right. It’s surprising that this rough character’s look was based on someone as respectable and calm as Dr. Kalam.
The film Tere Naam, directed by Satish Kaushik, was a remake of the Tamil movie Sethu (1999). It marked actress Bhumika Chawla’s debut in Hindi films. While the movie did okay at the box office and faced some criticism for how the female character was treated, Salman’s performance was praised and is still remembered as one of his best.
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After appearing in Tiger 3 in 2023 and making special appearances in Singham Again and Baby John in 2024, Salman recently starred in the film Sikandar, directed by AR Murugadoss. He is also set to appear in an international movie titled 7 Dogs, which also stars Sanjay Dutt. Salman hasn’t officially announced his next projects yet.