Salman Khan
Salman Khan

Regardless of what you think about Salman Khan as an actor (or even him as a person), there’s no denying that he enjoys a level of stardom most people within the industry could try to attain forever, and still fail. There’s no one quite like him, which is why many of the things he does both professionally and personally get explained away as just Salman being Salman. To celebrate his birthday, let’s take a look at 5 of the things that only Salman can do, and still get away with!

1. Those ridiculous dance moves

Salman is not technically a great dancer by any stretch of the imagination, but it absolutely does not matter at all, because he has his own way of doing things and everyone ends up loving it. No one can dance quite like Salman does in his “zero f**ks given” manner and not only get away with it, but have it become one of the biggest crazes of the season. Like, I doubt anyone would categorise the towel move as “good dancing,” but you better believe that, thanks to Salman, everyone will copy that move with much glee whenever the song is played.

2. Those tweets

@BeingSalmanKhan
@BeingSalmanKhan
@BeingSalmanKhan
@BeingSalmanKhan

Salman Khan either does not know how to use Twitter, or is above using it the way we mere mortals do. He’s probably the only one who can tweet inane things without context – technically they are replies to fans but he doesn’t include their handle so no one knows what he’s referring to – and still get hundreds of retweets and favourites.

3. Making style statements out of simple things

Salman Khan
Salman Khan

He began wearing Being Human t-shirts all the time, and now you’d find it difficult to walk 10 steps in a street shopping area without spotting at least one person selling a  Being Human rip-off (and that’s not even counting the sheer number of guys you’ll find wearing the rip-offs). He has also (unwittingly, perhaps) turned wearing a firoza bracelet into a trend, because now it is more commonly referred to as “Salman Khan’s bracelet.” Online shopping sites advertise it as such, and I’ve seen shops at Heera Panna that sell the bracelet (complete with a poster of Salman wearing it for advertisement purposes). And, of course, how can we forget his Dabangg way of storing his sunglasses behind his collar, which – while clearly effective as a style statement – is tad inconvenient, logistically speaking.

4. Claiming he’s a virgin

Salman Khan
Salman Khan

Going on national television and claiming that he’s a virgin with a completely straight face is one of those things that only Salman Khan can think of doing (and have people laugh at how funny he is instead of just rolling their eyes – though I don’t doubt there was a fair bit of that too). He’s also the only one who can remark (again with a straight face) that,”I’ve never had a girlfriend in my life. I’m going to save myself for the one I get married to,” when his love affairs have already been dissected to death in the media.

5. Bringing in an audience regardless of anything

Here’s the thing: you know when a Salman Khan movie releases that it’s going to be a major hit, everything else (music, co-stars, director, producer, story, script, etc) be damned. He is the only actor in Bollywood today who can practically guarantee a good opening if he is your film’s hero, and it does not matter what else your film has or doesn’t have – at the end of the day, it’s a Salman Khan film, and that’s the claim to fame. Aamir Khan put it best on Koffee With Karan: “For me to give a big success, I have to have a great script, director, cast, technicians… Salman doesn’t need that. He’s just raw, brute star power. He comes and shakes his belt a couple of times, he puts his goggles behind his shirt, and everyone just goes bananas.”

Here’s wishing the superstar an equally super birthday!