Dressed in an olive-green jacket pulled over a black Being Human tee, Salman Khan settles down for a tête-à-tête in his brand new apparel store on Linking Road. He’s relaxed and completely in control despite the milling crowds that are jostling for a mere glimpse of the Rs 100-crore man. With his feet up casually on a coffee-table, he directs his design team to incorporate a few alterations in the clothing design.

Salman Khan, of the bulging biceps, is the man of the moment — and he knows it. Bollywood’s hottest property, he’s determined that the magic of Brand Salman doesn’t wane anytime soon.

The superstar — whose commanding price is a jaw-dropping Rs 50 crore to Rs 55 crore per film — is shifting into a different gear, quietly trying to cast aside his bratty image.

Not content with launching the flagship store of his apparel and accessories line — an offshoot of his charity foundation Being Human —in Mumbai, he’s now poised to turn restaurateur with his own chain of restaurants. To follow quickly will be his own Internet television channel, though he’s tight-lipped about that just yet. The proceeds from these new ventures will all be directed to those in need. Hands-on in all these projects, his aim is to make his charity foundation larger than Brand Salman.

So, despite the fact that his films, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2, effortlessly stacked up back-to-back in the coveted Rs 100-crore club within a week of them being released, right now he has charity on his mind.

Salman has reason to live life sunny side up. Though he has several film commitments lined up over the next two years, the actor is taking a breather right now.

Salman shakes a leg with Dolly Bindra on the sets of Bigg Boss Season 6; (below) the actor with colleague Aamir Khan and director Subash Ghai (centre)

He will soon begin shooting for brother Sohail Khan’s next film, Mental, a remake of the Telugu blockbuster, Stalin. The film may just be his only release this year. Up next is Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kick, while in 2014 he’s “managed” dates for his brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri’s film, Anees Bazmee’s No Entry Mein Entry and a yet-to-be titled film by Ramesh Taurani. The actor also has plans to produce small-budget films under his Being Human Productions.

Salman may have been controversy’s child exuding an I-care-a-damn attitude, but it’s time now for a clean-up act. In the past, he’s courted trouble. He was arrested in 2002 for running over pavement dwellers in Mumbai, for which he will be tried this March for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. In 2006, he was sentenced for hunting the endangered Chinkara in Jodhpur, while on the side his multiple controversial link-ups with leading ladies ensured that there was always a buzz about him.

So, is he turning a new leaf? Salman gives a wry smile and says that charity and him are old companions. He adds in his trademark laconic style: “It’s a manufacturing defect that has been passed on to me and my siblings by our parents. All through my growing up years, I was concerned about people in need.”

Still preening in the aftermath of the super-success of Dabangg 2, the 47-year-old has seriously turned entrepreneur with his Being Human line of apparel and accessories.

Dabangg 2 (top) and Ek Tha Tiger were top grossers in 2012

Interestingly, Being Human’s newest flagship store has come to Mumbai after being successfully launched in Paris, Belgium and the Middle East last year. Salman has an unusual but smart reason for opening in these countries first. He says: “I wanted to test unknown markets first where people didn’t know Salman Khan.”

The Being Human line offers tees, shoes, bags, belts and trousers for men while lines for women and kids are likely to hit the racks this March. The proceeds from the sales will go to his foundation that supports education and healthcare projects. He jokes, “The idea of Being Human must have come to me from Somy (Ali) whose clothing line is called So-Me.”

Salman’s in complete charge of every aspect of the Being Human collection and clears every design that his team conceptualises. “Nothing is cleared without him overseeing it,” says Manish Mandhana, MD, Mandhana Industries, the global licencee of Being Human clothing. The actor has plans to set up 12 Being Human stores in India by end of March and to have 50 by 2014.

Salman’s been pretty much a trendsetter himself (including moments when he predictably throws off his shirt). From the sailor’s cap that he wore in his debut film, Maine Pyaar Kiya, to his Dabangg look, his style is easy to emulate. He laughs, “I am a non-fussy dresser. My lucky charm is the blue-sapphire bracelet which is special to me because it has been made-to-order by my father.”

Right now he’s also focusing big time on launching a lounge bar-cum-restaurant in Mumbai, the profits of which will also be directed to charity. “We will first launch in Mumbai and then take the restaurants to other cities,” he says.

Ace photographer Daboo Ratnani who’s been his childhood buddy recalls, “We’ve known each other for 25 years and he has always been known to have a large heart. Regardless of his career graph, he has always helped people in need.”

Half-heartedness is obviously not for him. His outings on the small screen proved that his brand of charisma extends to television too. This is perhaps why he’s the highest paid Bollywood actor on the tube, reportedly pocketing some Rs 7 crore per episode. He was a runaway hit on the reality-show Bigg Boss, three straight seasons. In 2009, the Bollywood hunk had first charmed TV viewers with two seasons of Dus Ka Dum (Sony).

The entire Khan clan turned up at the launch of the Being Human store. (In the photograph from left to right) Arbaaz, Salman, Arpita, Sohail, Alvira and her husband Atul Agnihotri

As a supermodel endorsing energy capsules, footwear and bikes, Salman’s clout holds steadfastly. He walks away with anywhere between a tidy Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 7 crore per endorsement.

The actor is also planning to launch an Internet television channel in the coming months. He says, “Today television is a stronger medium than films and has a wider reach. We are planning to launch programmes which can be used to raise money for the charity. But it’s too early to talk about them.”

Says Shailesh Kapoor, CEO, Ormax Media, a media-tracking company, “In our tracking product ‘Stars India Loves’, Salman scores higher than the Number 2 and Number 3 stars — that’s SRK and Akshay Kumar — put together. A spate of successful films, Bigg Boss and the Being Human initiative has helped his image.”

So, does he feel that this is the best phase of his life? “No, no, not all. It’s only a beginning. However hard it must be to accept, it is also true that this good phase is not going to last a lifetime,” he says while sipping his strong black tea.

Trade analyst Komal Nahta says that there is no sign of the fatigue factor hitting Salman. Nahta says, “If Sohail’s film releases this year there’ll be about Rs 85 crore to Rs 90 crore riding on him.”

For someone who began his career on a high-note in Sooraj Barjatya’s Maine Pyar Kiya in 1989 to an actor who saw a series of flops in a row, Salman Khan has come a long way. From playing a vulnerable Radhe in Tere Naam (2003) to Wanted (2009), Salman has stood his ground solidly. But his popularity soared to stratospheric heights in a slew of blockbusters including Ek Tha Tiger in which he played a RAW agent and Chulbul Pandey in the Dabangg films.

He grins, “At the end of the day there’s nothing bigger than the script. If a film flops, I am equally responsible for it.”

Actress Sonakshi Sinha who has worked with him in Dabangg and Dabangg 2 says, “On the sets of Dabangg he never treated me as a newcomer but as a co-star. It was fun to work with him because he brought light-heartedness to the sets.”

Filmmaker Kabir Khan who directed him in Ek Tha Tiger, one of Salman Khan’s biggest hits says: “I met Salman when I was still a documentary filmmaker. In Ek Tha Tiger, creating a larger-than-life role for Salman was the easiest thing to do but the challenge for me was to make the character appealing to the critics as well.”

A private person, Ratnani says that Salman is also a die-hard animal lover and chills out with his Saint Bernard and Mastiff at his Panvel farmhouse. And yes, he paints in his spare time and he’s also planning an exhibition of his paintings in March. “Painting is a hobby that I am serious about and I am slowly getting better at,” he says. He has also auctioned his paintings in the past to raise funds for his foundation.

He’s been an inspiration to many stars in terms of fitness too. He sometimes loves to pedal his way to shoots on his bicycle. He laughs, “In my teens, when I saw my friends riding fancy cars I hated cycling. Now when I ride a cycle, there are always two back-up vans which follow me.”

He also takes his family-man image very seriously. If there’s one person whom he looks up to, it’s his father Salim Khan. He also shares a deep rapport with his brothers Arbaaz and Sohail Khan.

Despite the fact that his father was a screenplay writer, the actor reveals that he had a modest upbringing with his siblings in Mumbai. He recalls: “I am a simple guy with basic needs. When we were growing up, we used to share a pair of ripped Wrangler jeans. We even shopped for second-hand clothes from Chor Bazaar and Fashion Street in south Mumbai.”

So, what according to him are his real strengths as an actor? “I really don’t know the answer. I don’t see as such any qualities in me. That’s for my fans to judge,” he says humbly.