I’m a police officer’s son,” said 89-year-old Salim Khan, hemmed in by gynaecologist and constant companion Dr Sandeep Chopra and Salman’s bodyguards who looked ready to growl. “So, I never forget a criminal’s face.” This punchline from the writer, who’ll be a nonagenarian this November, was his way of affirming he’d recognised me though we were meeting after ages. The gynaec and writer friendship, as Salim never fails to chuckle over, has nothing to do with the affable doctor’s profession.

He not only remembers “a criminal’s face” but whispers credit Salman’s dad with advising the team that they voluntarily cut 20-odd minutes of Sikandar, the Eid release that’s suddenly in the news. A smart move to apply the scissors after they got the long, over two-and-a-half-hour film censored with a comfortable 13+ certificate. It’s easier to get a trimmed version re-certified than to complete all the editing and then apply for CBFC clearance at the eleventh hour. This 13+ also ensures that Salman’s loyal teen audience can watch him in action.

For someone who said to me that security concerns allowed him “no detours” from his fixed routine of work and home that put a clamp on all-India promotions, Salman’s pre-release swag alone has woken up the box office that was beginning to yawn after a splendid six-week sprint with Chhaava. Strange how the box office weaves its own connections. Katrina Kaif’s husband Vicky Kaushal ran a marathon and recorded his career’s best collection of ₹600 crore (all-India figure) before handing over the baton to Salman.

In between, John Abraham, a figure Salman was piqued with for years, managed to stand dignified for two short weeks with The Diplomat, a real-life chapter from Indian diplomat J.P. Singh’s stint in Pakistan where brains and not brawn won the day for him. Though it doesn’t qualify as a hit, ₹35 crore is a decent figure in today’s times especially when John and his producers didn’t binge on the promotions and The Diplomat was image-defying.

Interestingly, there was also a hirsute connection between the Chhaava hero and the new Sikandar. When Vicky had to go clean-shaven for Sam Bahadur and The Great Indian Family, he couldn’t wait to go back to a thick stubble. “I prefer a beard to being clean shaven,” he’d said while shooting for Chhaava.

Salman was the opposite. He couldn’t wait to get the Sikandar beard shaved off. But there was a snag. Like Amitabh Bachchan has often said, a beard camouflages the chin area.

When Salman decided to go clean shaven again, he was horrified to find that he had his work cut out for him — the jawline had to be chiselled, the extra hair having hidden the chubbiness that had crept in. Salman’s own preference is neither a beard nor clean shaven. “I like a thin stubble,” he says. The clean-shaven face and getting the jawline in shape have him looking fresher than he has lately been.

Taking no chances after years of Eid day setbacks, Salman, director A.R. Murugadoss and producer Sajid Nadiadwala have kept the real story of Sikandar under wraps, revealing only Salman’s action scenes and chemistry between him and Rashmika Mandanna, the golden girl of the moment. Check out Tamizh cinema star Vijay Thalapathy’s 2018 film Sarkar directed by A.R. Murugadoss. You’ll not find it on any OTT platform. There’s only a Bengali dubbed version on JioHotstar, without subtitles, thereby ensuring only a tiny percentage would’ve seen the original before Sikandar swaggers in.

Meanwhile, bigots from both communities are getting into a twist over Salman, a Khan no less, wearing the impressively chunky ₹34 lakh Ram Mandir wristwatch with a bright saffron strap. The real paradox, if we may call it one, is that this was his eidi from his mother and sisters.

Also worth a mention. The “Eid release” is releasing on Gudi Padwa — the day Hindus of Maharashtra celebrate their New Year.