Former advertising filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar, who worked with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan during her modelling days, had previously reflected on the actor’s highly publicised split from Salman Khan. In a 2025 interview, he claimed that while the breakup itself brought her relief, what hurt her most was feeling abandoned by the film industry, which she believed had rallied behind Salman.Kakkar recalled standing by Aishwarya during that phase. According to him, she had lost faith in the industry after the relationship ended.“I was just supportive of her. I told her, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She said, ‘But the industry…’ Her greatest hurt was being abandoned by the industry for Salman. She really felt that; she felt so betrayed. The breakup, in fact, was a huge relief at the end of it,” he had said, in an interview with Vickey Lalwani. He further claimed that Aishwarya’s disappointment stemmed less from the end of the relationship and more from how she believed the industry reacted to it.“She wasn’t upset about the breakup. She was upset that everybody took Salman’s side and not hers. The truth was on her side. She didn’t trust the industry anymore because it wasn’t playing fair. I could understand if she was wrong and the other party was right, or if both sides were treated equally. But nothing — it was completely one-sided,” Kakkar added.Kakkar also made claims about Salman’s behaviour during that period, alleging that the actor was “very physical and obsessive” and asking, “How do you deal with somebody like that?”However, he clarified that Aishwarya never discussed the matter with him directly. Instead, he said his observations came from living in the same building as the former couple.“No, I knew because I was living in the same building. He used to make scenes in the foyer and would bang his head on the wall. The relationship had ended long before it officially ended. It was a relief for everyone — her parents, her, the whole world,” he shared.Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai reportedly ended their relationship in 2002 and never collaborated on a film again. Years later, in a 2012 interview with Simi Garewal, Aishwarya briefly addressed the breakup but chose not to elaborate on it publicly.“I think I have quite shut it out. I think I wouldn’t want to get into looking at it any which way and especially on a public platform. I really wouldn’t want to.”
