Salman Khan is like a Pandora’s Box, always packed with surprises. For starters, we had a road show by him last Sunday. With Salman cycling from his Bandra home to RK Studios, many hearts skipped a beat. As he rode inside, sporting a grey tee and three quarters, for the shoot of 10 Ka Dum, the world went still for a moment. As the crowd recuperated, the reactions were noteworthy — kids cheering, young women drooling, the older ones mesmerised and the men probably wondering ‘what does he have, that we do not’.

Shaking hands and blowing kisses, he made his entry into the chalet. The walk stylish, the talk precise. His chalet seemed to be the centre of all activity with make-up artistes, designers, celebrity managers, friends and security adding to the noise. The maverick actor was unperturbed by the noise. Instead, he found peace in it. “I always chill for a while in my chalet before a shoot. It helps me relax,” he said.

The shirtless wonder was in his fully-clad avatar, but looked dapper nonetheless. Dressed in chalk-striped steel grey trousers, a mauve shirt, belt studded with Swarovski crystals and hair tied into a ponytail, his designer wear was in sharp contrast to the clean white interiors of the villa. Meeting him is easy, but pinning him down for an interview is always like nailing down quicksilver. This time around we got lucky. With his trademark impish smile, he perched on the couch, rested his arms and twitched his nose. “Tell me, what you want to know?” he said, in a burnt-caramel voice, a pure delight to be addressed in.

Despite having ruled the roost in Bollywood for years, Khan does not discount the experience that his stint on the small screen has given him. A people’s actor, he said, “I enjoy anchoring the show because I can connect with the masses and interact with people from various backgrounds, something I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise. Also, the show doesn’t challenge your intelligence.”

Surely, he seemed to be loving every minute of it. The stress that comes with working