Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjatya have worked in various movies in the past but when the director recently approached him with a role in his next, the actor turned him down. Industrywallahs are wondering if this will affect the two-decade friendship that the director and the actor share. The pair first worked together in Maine Pyaar Kiya (1989).

A source in the industry says, “Sooraj has been working on his next script for some time now. After the success of Vivaah, he wants to direct again.Once again, in true Rajshri style, it is a very simple, sweet family drama that has a love story. There is a pivotal role in the film that Sooraj thought was perfect for Sallu. He called the actor for a story narration. Sallu showed up.” Sooraj is known to give long and lengthy narrations.

This time too, it was no different. After the narration ended, Salman told Sooraj that the lead of the movie had to be someone young and he wasn’t suited for the role. To his surprise, the maker told him that the role he intended to give Sallu was not that of the main lead but that of one of the characters in the film.

The source continues, “Salman was not impressed with the role offered to him and said no straight off. He also told Sooraj that come what may in his career, he would never do silly character roles.He feels that if he did so, he would be betraying his fans as they still want him to do the main leads,” concludes the source.