Actress Sushmita Sen starred opposite Salman Khan in the 1999 film Biwi No. 1, but her admiration for him started much earlier. As a teenager, she “fell in love with this man” after seeing him in Sooraj Barjatya’s 1989 hit film Maine Pyar Kiya. Even posters of Salman’s film were hung in his room.

In an event shared on Shipra Neeraj’s YouTube channel, Sushmita recalled, “Whatever pocket money I got, I used to buy posters of Salman Khan, and in those days, Maine Pyar Kiya had released, so my There was also a picture of the film nearby. Pigeon (Pigeon) from that film because it was a Salman Khan film.”

She considered these posters “sacred”, adding, “My parents always said that if the homework was not done on time, we would remove those posters. So I always completed my homework on time because Those posters were holy. I was in love with this man.”

The 1989 film Maine Pyar Kiya established Salman as a national heartthrob and earned him the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. Ten years later, Sushmita got a chance to romance David Dhawan in his romantic comedy Biwi No. 1.

During her time on the sets, Sushmita shared her teenage admiration for Salman, and revealed how his posters used to decorate her room. “We became friends and I told him this story. Then one day, he told me that he had seen a 15-year-old photo of me and there was a poster of his movie behind me. So I said, ‘I told you there was a poster in my room.’ He asked, ‘What was your favorite movie?’ I said, ‘I loved.’ After this he went to David (Dhawan) and said, ‘We have to make ‘Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya’ with Sushmita Sen.’

Dhawan obliged, and in 2005, Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya was released, starring Salman, Sushmita, Katrina Kaif and Sohail Khan.