Salman Khan’s signing amount skyrocketed from Rs 5,000 to Rs 5 lakhs after Maine Pyar Kiya, reveals director Lawrence D’Souza

Film director and cinematographer Lawrence D'Souza recently opened up about when he and his producer friend signed Salman Khan for a mere Rs 5,000 after watching his debut film, Maine Pyar Kiya (1989). In an interview with Friday Talkies, D'Souza reminisced about Salman's early days as an actor and how director and producer S Ramanathan had signed him for the same amount. However, the film they intended to make together never materialised.

Wjihen Salman Khan Questioned Producers S Ramanathan As Salman's star rose, the signing amounts offered to him also increased. D'Souza recalled a time when even Salman himself questioned why the producer was paying him such substantial amounts without actually working with him. "We went for the trial of Maine Pyar Kiya at Rajshri," D'Souza shared. "After watching the film, S Ramanathan, with whom I was working on a film called Pratiksha, said, 'Lawrence, let's sign Salman.' So I called Salman at his office and we paid him a signing amount of Rs 5,000."

Unfortunately, S Ramanathan failed to start the film after paying Salman the signing amount. D'Souza revealed that Ramanathan later paid Salman a whopping Rs 5,00,000 for another project, but that too never came to fruition. "After that, Salman delivered a bigger hit, and Ramanathan woke up again," D'Souza said. "We paid Salman Rs 5,00,000. S Ramanathan went quiet again. After that, one more film of Salman was a hit, and we called him. Salman then said, 'What kind of a person is he? He pays me money and then he does nothing!'" Salman Khan’s Fees For Saajan REVEALED!  D'Souza also shared insights into his 1991 hit film, Saajan, starring Salman Khan, Madhuri Dixit, and Sanjay Dutt. He revealed that while he was paid Rs 8 lakh for directing the film, Salman and Madhuri were each paid Rs 11 lakh, and Sanjay was paid Rs 12 lakh. D'Souza stated that during the 1980s and 1990s, the film industry wasn't as lucrative as it is today.

Recalling a piece of advice he received from Salman, D'Souza said, "I used to do films to help producer friends, some of them were poor, so I wanted to help them. But Salman once told me, 'You don't do all this now. You have made Saajan, now you have to do even better than that.'" D'Souza acknowledged his emotional nature and desire to help others, which led him to make sacrifices in his career and earn less than he could have.

Also Read: Salman Khan returns with heartfelt single ‘You Are Mine’ ft Agni Agnihotri, watch

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