Over the years, Salman Khan has established himself as one of Bollywood’s biggest action stars, pulling off everything from gravity-defying jumps to intense fight scenes on screen. While audiences often cheer for these larger-than-life moments in theaters, the actor recently revealed that some of these scenes came dangerously close to turning into real-life incidents.In an interview with Variety India, Salman Khan spoke candidly about the emotional and physical stress of shooting high-stakes action scenes, and revealed that some of the stunts left him really scared and vulnerable.
Salman Khan recalls the terrifying 80 feet jump during Jaagruti
The actor recalled a particularly nerve-racking experience while shooting for Jaagruti in Udupi, where he had to jump off an 80-foot mountain for an action scene.Salman said that the jump initially seemed easy to control when viewed from below, but things became scary once he climbed to the top.
Unlike normal stunt setups that use one or two safety boxes, this sequence requires three layers of boxes plus a mattress due to the height of the stunt.Recalling that moment, Salman said, “There was an 80-foot mountain with a belly. So when I saw it from below, I thought, yes, I can do this jump. Earlier, we used to get one or two boxes to jump on, but this jump was a high jump. So, they put three layers of boxes for me and a mattress on top.”
He also revealed that once he reached the top, the landing zone looked impossibly small from that height, which made him completely reconsider the trick.“So I said, ‘I’ve arrived now,’ and I went up. From there, I couldn’t see the boxes because the stomach was there. I had to jump based on my judgement. I wasn’t going to do that jump, but the crowd had already gathered there. So to go down and say that I won’t do that jump would have proven very bad for my pride,” Salman admitted.The actor added that things took a dangerous turn when he slipped while jumping.“When I looked at the boxes, they looked like a matchbox from that height,” he recalls. “I had to jump, so I ran, reached out and slipped on the gravel. My hair scratched the rock of the mountain, and I fell.”
The Patthar Ke Phool move left Salman Khan unable to breathe
Salman Khan also spoke about another scary incident while shooting for ‘Patthar Ke Phool’ near Mount Mary in Mumbai.The sequence required him to skateboard at high speed before jumping over stacked boxes.
During the first attempt, the actor failed to remove the obstacle correctly. Determined to get the shot right, Salman decided to try again – but the second attempt turned out to be more dangerous.“Then I said, ‘I’ll do this again,'” he said, recalling the mishap. “The camera was on the road on Mount Mary. So I had to come all this way. There’s a building called Balmoral Hall, and from there I started skiing.”However, Salman soon realized that he gained a lot of speed while skating.“And I realized I had gathered so much speed, I was going to go through everything. So I made this jump, and I could see the boxes going by. Then I could see the road, and I landed in a ditch right next to the camera.”The impact of the fall was so severe that the actor had difficulty breathing afterwards.Salman revealed: “And then I couldn’t breathe for about a minute and a half because of the impact on my back.”
Salman Khan opens up about the fear behind action scenes
While Salman Khan has performed countless action scenes throughout his career, the actor’s revelations provided a glimpse into the risks and emotional pressures actors often face while filming such sequences.Despite the fear and danger involved, Salman admitted that factors such as public expectations, professional commitment and even personal ego sometimes pushed him to complete stunts he was reluctant to attempt.
