Anil Raina (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 28, 2017)

A Kashmiri family from Ashmuqam village, whom Salman Khan had adopted while filming Bajrangi Bhaijaan, assembled to celebrate his 52nd birthday on December 27.

Zaina Begum, a 75-year-old widow and matriarch recalled how the actor had helped her family get back on their feet by helping them rebuild a house following the devastating 2014 floods. “We celebrate his birthday every year with a grand feast of his favourite Kashmiri food. I wish him a long life and all the happiness in the world. He is a messiah for us,” Zaina, who now lives in the new home with her daughter-inlaw and four grandchildren, told Mirror.

Zaina’s grandson, Gowhar Bhat, who lost his father when he was nine, said that the family also burst crackers and invited all the children from the neighbourhood for an evening of celebrations. “Salman had promised my three sisters a good life and he kept his word,” he said.

A person close to him insists the actor will keep his word, give them a new home in a month's time
Anil Raina (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 25, 2015)

Mirror (April 29) had earlier reported that Salman Khan had adopted an impoverished family in Diyaroo in the Anantnag district while shooting for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, in the Valley. Moved by Zaina Begum's 'application' for help, he had offered a helping hand to the 75-year-old matriarch in Kashmir, her 40-year-old daughter Dilshada Jaan and four grandchildren. He'd put Zaina Begum's eldest grandson, 18-year-old Gowhar Ahmad Bhat to work on the set and promised her a new house and life for her grandsons in Mumbai.

But the destitute widow claims that the family has not heard from Salman. "He left us after promising much. The new house is incomplete. I've tried to call his bodyguard, Shera, several times. He never answers and sometimes his phone is out of reach. Before the release of the film, they would call us, but now they have stopped taking our calls. I've left my studies and I'm looking for odd jobs to support my family, still hoping that Salman Khan will keep his promise to us," a distressed Gowhar told Mirror.

However, a source close to the actor says, "We got work for the old lady's grandson in the art department of Bajrangi Bhaijaan while we were shooting in Kashmir. He is the only male child in the family and needs a job in the vicinity. We have requested few people for a job for him in the Valley."

Gowhar adds that work on the house has come to a standstill because money for the construction has stopped coming. His grandmother picks up the litany of woes, "Today, when I go for begging during festivals, people call me Salman Khan's mother and tell me to go to him for help. He had promised financial help for my two granddaughters, it's not come through. Our house is still incomplete. We had nothing, even on Eid. I've lost hope. Had I know he was like this, I wouldn't have gone to him for help."

The source says that the house is under construction for months now. "It's a decent size house and cannot be made overnight. Check out the image of the old house which was in a dilapidated condition and compare it with the images of the new house which is being constructed. Work is still in progress and the house should be completed in a month's time. This is the update we have received from the local overseeing the job for us. Aasif from Pine n Peak Hotel is monitoring the construction and making payments to the vendors which are being reimbursed by Salman. Once the house is ready, we will send you pictures of it and you will see for yourself that Salman kept his promise."

Anil Raina (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 29, 2015)

Yesterday, a weary Salman Khan hurriedly wrapped up the shoot of Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan, so that he could fly down to Jodhpur for the verdict on the black buck case, which is to be announced today.

An intense Nawazuddin Siddiqui and a child actress, whose identity and role in the plot is being kept strictly under wraps, gave him company in Kashmir as he braved the dark cloud of legal cases and a torrential downpour, to race through his portions of the film which is set for an Eid release.

Salman has left the valley to face his fate in court, but a family of six in the remote village of Diyaroo in Anantnag district, are convinced that the troubled actor has changed their destiny.

It started when the family's 75-year-old matriarch, Zaina Begum, met the actor while he was filming in Pahalgam with an 'application' for help.

Zaina Begum has been struggling, with her 40-year-old widowed daughter Dilshada Jaan, to raise four grandchildren, who moved into her modest home after the untimely demise of their father. Alms, begged for during festivals, have been keeping this destitute family alive.

So, when the news of Salman's arrival spread like wildfire through the valley, a neighbour coaxed Zaina Begum to meet the actor. She turned up on the sets one day and informed his four security guards that she wanted to meet Salman. Intrigued, he sent for her and spent hours listening, as she unburdened her problems.

Salman, whom Zaina describes as "a saviour, a messiah", immediately, put her eldest grandson,18-year-old Gowhar Ahmad Bhat to work on the sets, so he could take some money home for his mother and grandmother as well as his three sisters, Rukaiya Jaan (15), Khalida Jaan (12) and Khushboo Jaan (10). According to a source present on location, Salman told the lad that he could be with the unit till the schedule in Kashmir ended after which he could fly down to Mumbai and work with him. "Salman assured him that he and his family would never want for anything again," says the source.

Gowhar adds, "Upar khuda hai, neeche Salman Khan."