Quick Scoop

Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai were reportedly in a relationship in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it ended badly and became one of Bollywood’s most talked-about breakups. Public reporting at the time and in later retrospectives says Aishwarya described the split as involving emotional strain, possessiveness, and alleged verbal/physical abuse, while some accounts from Salman’s side framed it as a mismatch over commitment and marriage.

What happened

  • They fell in love around the time of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and were widely discussed as a high-profile couple.
  • The relationship later soured, and Aishwarya said she ended it after enduring abuse, infidelity allegations, and repeated conflict.
  • Media reports and later commentary also mention incidents that fed the public drama, including jealousy around co-stars and a widely reported episode where Salman allegedly behaved aggressively on a film set or near her residence.

Why it still gets talked about

  • It became a major celebrity-gossip story because both were huge stars and the breakup played out in public through interviews and media coverage.
  • Different people have repeated different versions over the years, so the exact private details are not fully knowable from the outside.

Bottom line

  • The safest public-facing read is: it was a serious relationship that ended in a messy, painful breakup, with Aishwarya later alleging abuse and Salman’s camp offering a different explanation about commitment and timing.

If you want, I can also give you a very short timeline of their relationship and breakup in 5 bullets.