Do we like Salman Khan?
Our score: 5 out of 10. No harmful words of his own turned up, but a poaching conviction under appeal and unanswered allegations from an ex sit against real charity work.
Salman broke out as a romantic lead in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and piled up 90s hits like Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. A run of flops in the early 2000s followed, then Wanted (2009) and Dabangg (2010) made him a superstar for good. Karan Johar once said “Eid belongs to Salman Khan.”
The legal history is long. A Mumbai trial court found him guilty in a 2002 hit-and-run in 2015 and sentenced him to five years, but the Bombay High Court overturned it and found him not guilty of all charges. The 1998 blackbuck poaching case, where he is accused of killing chinkaras and a blackbuck while filming in Jodhpur, is still alive: he was convicted at trial, has appealed, and the state is appealing too. In February 2026 a Rajasthan High Court judge stepped aside from the hearing, so it is heading to a new bench.
On the harm test, we found no words or acts of his own targeting LGBTQ+ people, trans people or the planet, and nothing on vaccines or conspiracy theories either. That is partly a gap: searches turned up very little from him on those topics either way. Outlook credits films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan with promoting Hindu-Muslim amity, and the same piece pans his recent films as formulaic.
The nice test is where it gets messy. His ex, actor Somy Ali, alleged in January 2023 that he beat her and put her down, and asked for a public apology. The report we read carries no response from him, so treat it as an unanswered allegation, not a finding. Outlook also notes reported accounts of rages and unprofessional behaviour, alongside industry praise for his loyalty, and Manisha Koirala saying “there's no pretence. Whatever he is, he shows.”
The recent stoushes show the temper and the lawyers. In May 2026 he asked photographers “Pagal ho gaye ho?” (have you gone crazy), then posted that he hadn't forgotten how to fight and that they could land in jail. Earlier, on 30 January 2026, a Mumbai civil court gave him an interim order barring filmmaker Abhinav Kashyap and others from commenting on him and his family. He is suing for ₹9 crore, alleging their statements are defamatory, and the case is still pending with no defendant response reported.
The good stuff is real. His Being Human charity, which he fronts, said it would cover treatment for 100 patients with heart conditions who couldn't afford it, after his film Kick took off. Outlook reports the industry praising his niceness and philanthropy, and his stardom rests on goodwill with working-class and rural audiences.