Famous men do figure in his works but only sporadically. “I am attracted to beautiful creatures,” quipped Salem. He has also painted a portrait of his wife Inas and his son Marwan when he was one and a half years old. “The first time he painted my portrait was a year after our marriage. It was meant to be a surprise,” said Inas.

But for Samajwadi party General Secretary Amar Singh, it was the portraits of two particularly famous people that won his heart over. (No prizes for guessing who.) A rather pensive Amitabh Bachchan whom Salem had met in 2007, and a rather insipid Aishwarya Bachchan in puffed lips, painted in 2007. The Amitabh Bachchan portrait is pegged at Rs 1 lakh. The prices of his work begin from Rs 15,000.