Prahlad Kakkar has opened up about Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan’s turbulent breakup in 2002, stating that the actress chose to remain silent on the matter to maintain her dignity. Prahlad said that Aishwarya Rai has a close-knit
circle whom she trusts, and she won’t open up to anyone beyond that circle since she is a very private person.
“Aishwarya is a very private person. She doesn’t open in front of anybody. She has a very small set of close friends and confidants who trust her. Only then she opens up and talks freely. Otherwise, she’s very particular,” said ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar in a chat with ANI. “If the media doesn’t have access to somebody, they’d badmouth them,” he added.
Kakkar mentioned that Aishwarya “didn’t speak a word” during her breakup with Salman. “Because that’s her dignity. She realised very early in life that her silence was her dignity and strength. And that bothered the media. So, they were constantly trying to demean, criticise, and bring her down so she comes down to a point where she says, ‘Enough! I’ll give you what you want!’ She never did,” he explained. He also called Salman a “difficult” actor who has a “lot of issues”.
Previously, in a conversation with journalist Vickey Lalwani on his YouTube channel, Kakkar claimed that he witnessed firsthand the impact the breakup had on Aishwarya, especially professionally. “I was just supportive to her. I told her, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She said, ‘But the industry…’ Her greatest hurt was being abandoned by the industry for Salman. She really felt that, she felt so betrayed,” he recalled.
“The breakup, in fact, was a huge relief at the end of it,” Kakkar added, shedding light on the personal toll the relationship had taken on the actress. Kakkar alleged that Salman Khan had been “very physical with her and obsessive,” adding, “How do you deal with somebody like that?”
When asked if Aishwarya herself shared this, Kakkar explained, “No, I knew because I was living in the same building. He used to make scenes in the foyer, would bang his head on the wall. The relationship had ended long before it officially ended. It was a relief for everyone, her parents, her, the whole world.”
According to Kakkar, Aishwarya’s pain was not about the breakup itself but about the industry’s bias. “She wasn’t upset about the breakup. She was upset that everybody took Salman’s side and not hers. The truth was on her side. She didn’t trust the industry anymore because it wasn’t playing fair. I could understand if she was wrong and the other party was right, or if both sides were treated equally. But nothing, it was completely one-sided.”
Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan’s breakup in 2002 marked the end of a high-profile relationship that began after their 1999 film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Aishwarya eventually married Abhishek Bachchan in 2007, and the couple welcomed their daughter Aaradhya in 2011. Salman, meanwhile, has remained single, continuing his successful film career.
