Salman Khan didn't approve of music video in which girl parties in a thong and looks at porn; summoned directors to his house: ‘Yeh sexy kaam…'

Indian Express

14-05-2025

Filmmakers Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, best known for their music videos and the film Sanam Teri Kasam, recalled the controversy that erupted after the release of their music video for 'Kaanta Laga.' Featuring Shefali Jariwala as 'a young, rebellious girl', who parties in a nightclub, wears a thong, and looks at porn. While the directors said that their intentions were pure, the music video got them a slap on the wrist from the Central Board of Film Certification and a rebuke from none other than Salman Khan. Radhika and Vinay directed Salman in the film Lucky: No Time for Love, and have directed several song sequences in his films.
In an interview with Hindi Rush, they recalled getting 'a call from the censor board saying that we have disturbed the moral fibre of the nation'. Vinay said, 'A big actor called us to his house, and he told us, 'Main tumhe samjha raha hoon Radhika Vinay, yeh jo sexy kaam hai kam kiya karo, acha nahi hota (I'm trying to make you understand, don't do such sexy songs, it doesn't look good)'. He just said, 'You've got nice, pure minds'.' Prodded further, the filmmakers admitted that the actor in question was Salman.
Also read – 'Vodka never stopped flowing at Salman Khan's party, Russians were rolling down stairs; Bhai was rock-solid': Radhika Rao, Vinay Sapru recall epic bash
Radhika and Vinay explained that they simply wanted to branch out creatively. They said, 'We were doing cute and innocent songs with Falguni Pathak. We were doing songs with Jagjit Singh and Pankaj Udhas. As creative people, we wanted to evolve. One day, we went to Salman Khan's house. He was exercising while listening to a Jhankaar Beats remix of a Kishor Kumar song. An idea sparked, and that's what began the remix trend in India. We made 'Kaliyon Ka Chaman', 'Kaanta Laga', 'Chadti Jawani'… The sound organically reminds you of a nightclub, to a sensual visualisation.'
Radhika explained some of the inspirations behind the video. She said, 'I went to a girls' school. A friend of mine would always refuse getting stamped on her hand while going to a club. She'd pull her top to one side and ask to be stamped on her neck. That's what we did in the video as well. We thought it would be cool. The porn magazine in the video came from my own story. There would be porn magazines for women back then, and I was once caught reading one in school. We used that in the video.'
Vinay added, 'Even I didn't know that there were porn magazines featuring men. We sent our assistants to find one and they travelled across the length and breadth of Mumbai. They finally found one at Bandra Hill Road. It was such a simple thing, but it caused such a big scandal. The thong that she was wearing was all purely for fashion; we didn't realise we were disturbing the moral fibre of the country.'
Salman is known to be conservative when it comes to certain topics. His c0-star in the film Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, Palak Tiwari, once revealed that he disapproves of certain kinds of clothes on women. She said in an interview with Siddharth Kannan, 'You know, there's a very funny story… When I was AD-ing with Salman sir on Antim, Salman sir had a rule: 'every girl on my set, the neckline should be here, all the girls should be covered, like good proper girls'.'
Palak later said that she made a mistake by telling the story, and that she didn't want to paint Salman as a prude. She said that Salman is 'an extremely understanding' individual, and he'd know that she 'would never say anything malapropos about him, ever. Incidentally, Shefali Jariwala was a contestant on the 13th season of Bigg Boss, hosted by Salman.