News
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY: The truth behind Salman, Aishwarya & Vivek’s triangle!
The love triangle of Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi is one of the most controversial and talked-about stories of all time.
It all started for Salman and Aishwarya in 1999, when they met each other on the sets of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Sparks flew, Cupid struck and love blossomed.
All was well till Salman’s unpredictable and alcoholic nature threatened to derail their liaison. His possessiveness and violent outburst made Aishwarya a victim of quite a few embarrassments and despair. Salman once landed up at her house back in 2002, in a completely debauched condition and kept banging her apartment’s door till his hands began to bleed. He also showed up on the sets of Shah Rukh Khan’s Chalte Chalte and disallowed the actress to shoot.
Left with no choice, Aishwarya agreed to go with Salman and this compelled SRK, who was also producing the film, to replace her with Rani Mukerji. Aishwarya, who was the late Yash Chopra’s first choice for the role of Zaara in Veer-Zaara, was shown the exit door for this film as well and Preity Zinta was roped in.
It was the 26th of September, 2002, when Aishwarya’s father registered a police complaint at a Bandra Police Station against the actor. That was the final nail in the coffin. In an interview, Ash said, “The Salman Khan chapter was a nightmare in my life and I’m glad it’s over. He would sometimes get physical with me, fortunately without leaving any marks.”
Entered Vivek Oberoi, declared as The Next Big Thing after the success of Company and Saathiya. He signed Kyun! Ho Gaya Na… with Aishwarya and fell head over heels with her.
But it’s still not clear whether Ash ever reciprocated the feelings or was just looking for a company to get over her trauma of Salman. When Bhai got hold of the news of their alleged relationship, he called up Vivek on the 30th of March, 2003 over 41 times and incessantly abused the actor in an inebriated state. Two days later, on the 1st of April, Oberoi slammed the actor in a no-holds-barred press conference, which ultimately led to a massive decline in his otherwise promising career.
When the Yuva actor came to Farah Khan’s talk show, Tere Mere Beach Mein, he revealed how he was outcast overnight after the conference and producers refused to sign him for their films further. In fact, the person he trusted the most also turned her back on him! Yes, we are talking about Aishwarya Rai.
Today, all three are happy in their respective spaces, two are happily married, and one continues to be a virgin! But this love triangle somewhere definitely left a major dent in their careers back then.
Stick to this space for the latest in Bollywood!
