Arm baat hai

Salman Khan refused to lift Bipasha during a number at a stage show recently. Is she just too heavy for him or is there another reason for keeping her at arm's length?

While Saif Ali Khan may be besotted with Bipasha Basu, his good friend Salman Khan is not exactly fond of her. Sallu made his disapproval for Bipasha very evident at a recent stage show in Nagpur. The show's choreographers asked Salman to lift Bips in his arms and take a twirl. The story goes that Salman was initially apprehensive about being covered by Bips' dress. Later during the rehearsals, he simply refused to lift the actress and walked off.

A junior artiste who had rehearsed with the actor says, "Initially, Salman was not keen on lifting anyone as he thought that he might get covered. However, the organisers managed to convince him. It was during one of our final rehearsals when he walked off saying, "Isko (referring to Bipasha) kaun uthayega? (Who will lift her?)"

Reportedly, Bipasha was sitting just next to him and couldn't believe her ears when Salman reacted that way.

Those in the know reveal that Salman's dislike for Bipasha is just an extension of his ire for John and Bipasha. It was during the Rockstars show last year that the couple had managed to annoy Salman. Problems started when one show in Canada had poor ticket sales. Salman had requested fellow colleagues to waive off their respective fees for a show in Canada that had poor ticket sales and organisers had incurred huge losses. John and Bips had refused to give up on a single dollar and even demanded to stay in upmarket hotels.

Nevertheless, on the D-day a good-hearted Sallu ignored his personal differences and lifted the actress during their act. A source close to the actor says, "Salmanbhai is very professional. He will never let his personal issues spoils someone else's show. The crowd went berserk when he lifted Bipasha."