Popular screenwriter Salman Khan fell in love with Helen during the shooting of Don. Khan was then already married to Salman Khan and had four children- Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan and Alvira Khan. Though everything is fine with the family now, who are living under the same roof, but let us recall the time when their bond brought chaos in the Khan family.
Salim Khan and Helen Love Story
While many associate the duo with the 1970s, their first collaboration was actually the 1963 film Kabli Khan. In a reversal of their later personas, Helen played the heroine while Salim was cast as the villain. Despite sharing the screen, the two maintained a professional distance and hardly spoke a word to each other on set. It wasn't until the production of Don years later that a real bond began to form. While Helen was busy filming the legendary "Yeh Mera Dil Pyaar Ka Deewana," she finally "really met" Salim. Their dynamic shifted from silent co-stars to genuine companions as they spent more time together behind the scenes.
As revealed in the docu-series Angry Young Men, their relationship deepened during quiet evenings after filming wrapped. Salim recounted how Helen would visit for a drink and conversation before heading home. When asked exactly how they fell in love, Salim offered a grounded, poetic perspective: "If you have ever loved, you will understand how it happens."
When Salim Khan told Salman, Arbaaz, Sohail, Alvira about Helen
Salim Khan had revealed that it was not easy to tell his children about Helen. He said, "As kids they had their hostility. But they reacted the way their mother did. As I told you very honestly, it wasn’t as if Salma accepted the relationship happily straightaway and thanked me for it or said, you deserve an Oscar for it. So at that time, there was hostility from the children."
"I sat all the kids down and discussed it with them. I told them, ‘You won’t understand it now, but you will get it when you’re older. I am in love with Helen aunty and I know you can’t love her as much as you love your mother, but I want the same respect for her’," he added.
In the same docu-series, Arbaaz Khan highlighted his mother’s remarkable grace during a turbulent time. Despite her personal pain, Salma never allowed her feelings to colour her children’s perception of their father. Arbaaz said, "My mother never influenced us to think or say anything against our father. She had her troubles, but she never influenced us to think, ‘Your dad is like this,’ or, ‘This is what he is doing.’ Never. We still call her (Helen) aunty because she was Helen aunty at that time. Though we treat her as a mother, we call her Helen aunty. She is part of our lives. More than us, my mom ensures that she is part of everything."
Salman Khan talks about being upset with Salim Khan
Salman Khan has been candid about his initial struggles with the situation, once describing himself as a "mamma’s boy" who couldn't bear to see his mother unhappy. While he was deeply upset when his father first remarried, his perspective has evolved significantly over the decades. Today, he is known for being equally devoted to both mothers, offering them the same level of public love and protection.