MUMBAI: Deepika Padukone says Salman Khan was first to offer her a film, reveals why she said no to it

MUMBAI: Deepika Padukone has worked with most big Bollywood stars but never with Salman Khan. However, that’s not for his lack of trying. 

In a new interview, Deepika has revealed that Salman was actually the first person from Bollywood to offer her a film. She said that she was still a model at the time and did not wish to become an actor.

Speaking to Bollywood Hungama, Deepika replied to a fan’s question about teaming up with Salman someday. “We’ve always had this beautiful relationship and I’ll always be grateful to him because he was of the first people to offer me a film. It was just a tragedy that I was not ready for it. I had just started modelling and somebody I had worked with mentioned my work to him or he saw it,” she said.

Deepika did not mention which film she was talking about. “I was not ready for films. I didn’t want to be an actor and then literally two years later, Om Shanti Om happened,” she added.

Deepika said that she was still grateful for the opportunity Salman wanted to give her. “He saw potential in me when even I did not know I had it,” she said. She said she is finally getting to work with Hrithik Roshan in Fighter after 15 years in Bollywood and hopes something similar would come to her and Salman as well.

Salman and Deepika may not have worked together in any films but she often makes appearances on his show Bigg Boss to promote her movies. About not working with Deepika in any film, Salman told DNA in 2020, “Deepika is a big star, so it has to be worth her while to do a film with me. Right now, there is nothing.”

Salman will be seen next in Tiger 3 with Katrina Kaif. Deepika’s Gehraiyaan released on February 11 on Amazon Prime. She has Fighter, Pathan, Project-K and a few other films in the pipeline.