Spilled: Salman is Claudia's hero On SRK, actor shoots from lip

Salman Khan at the unveiling of the second edition of Dus Ka Dum in Mumbai on Thursday, (below) Claudia Ciesla in Cannes with Abhishek Bachchan

Mumbai, May 21: Enter Salman Khan with the scent of a new woman and the stink of an old rivalry.

The occasion was the re-launch of Sony Entertainment Television, in its 14th year, but all eyes — and ears — were on the born-yet-again Khan in his 20th year in the industry as he unveiled the second season of his television show Dus Ka Dum.

And how he obliged! By spilling a good word about his relationship with Claudia Ciesla and some bad blood between the Khans.

“Claudia is a very nice girl. I have introduced her to my family,” Salman said almost casually when asked about his friendship with German model-turned-Tollywood actress Claudia, first reported in t2, the lifestyle supplement of The Telegraph, on May 11.

When asked to spill some more — Salman moving on from Katrina Kaif to Claudia Ciesla is being seen in Bollywood as more spill than thrill — he kept quiet and just smiled.

But Claudia filled in the blanks from Cannes.

“I met his wonderful family —brothers, sister and his gorgeous father Salim. A very warm and friendly family, all very down to earth,” she told The Telegraph in an email.

And she did spill some more — more than what Somy Ali, Sangeeta Bijlani, Aishwarya Rai or Katrina Kaif had ever done. “Salman is a real man. He has a heart of gold. He is fearless. Salman is my hero.…”

The 43-year-old bad boy of Bollywood was quite the hero today in blue jeans, a white tee, white-rimmed glares and a ponytail as he laughed and joked for three hours.

“Main aisa hi hoon (this is how I am). I used to react to a lot of things in the past. Earlier I was a young boy, but now I am a grown man.”

The grown man let it rip when it came to friend-turned-foe Shah Rukh Khan. “I will consider it my good fortune if Shah Rukh comes on my show… (pause) but I will never invite him on Dus Ka Dum,” Salman shot off.

Shah Rukh: Showing off?

The barbs only grew sharper. “I did campaign for a few friends in the elections, but I didn’t think it was necessary to fly down all the way from London where I was shooting to cast my vote and show my inked finger to thousands of cameras. Main aisa dikhawa nahin kar sakta (I can’t make such a show of things),” Salman said.

If there was any doubt about who was in the line of his fire, he spelt it out: “Shah Rukh (who had flown down from South Africa to vote) has time and money to do such things, I don’t,” he smiled.

So he did have a problem with SRK, right? “I have no problems with Shah Rukh Khan… (pause) and even if I do, I am not going to tell you about it!”

The re-launch, as it turned out, was of Salman Khan with a new girl but an old enemy.