Vivek, Aishwarya and Salman

Mumbai, April 1: Salman Khan lives life film-size.

Young actor Vivek Oberoi today called the media to allege that senior colleague Salman had threatened to kill him — over Aishwarya Rai, it seems.

“Between the late hours of March 29 and early hours of March 30, he made 41 calls to me,” Vivek said at a news conference at his Ruia Park residence.

He said Salman threatened to come over to his place and kill him, warning that he keep off actresses Diya Mirza and Somy Ali, apart, of course, from Aishwarya.

Salman’s name has been linked with Aishwarya and Somy was his girlfriend before. “I was in Chennai when I was told that I shouldn’t come back to Mumbai because Salman was looking for me. But I decided to come,” Vivek said.

Salman, 38, and Aishwarya drifted apart over the actor’s tempestuous ways and reports in film magazines suggest the 27-year-old Vivek, who burst on to the scene with the movie Company, is besotted with the former Miss World.

The duo has signed two films together — Kyon…Ho Gaya Na? and a Hollywood movie, The Invaders.

Of late, they have been spotted dropping in on each other on the sets and, unlike Salman who once stormed into an Aishwarya shoot and reportedly misbehaved with her, Vivek has been charming — reputed to be always so with girls — and is believed to have melted the green-eyed maiden’s heart.

If the allegations he made today are true, the green-eyed monster may have had something to do with Salman’s heart.

“Salman is a mad man. But why should others pay for what he is going through? I am not saying he is a bad man. But he should get psychiatric treatment,” Vivek, who recently broke with girlfriend Gurpreet Gill, said.

Salman was not available for comment. His family members were away at their farmhouse.

Vivek spoke respectfully of Salman’s father Salim Khan and brother Arbaaz, who, he claimed, was sympathetic towards him and understood his problem.

He said he was waiting for his father, Suresh (a former actor), to arrive tonight before making a formal complaint to police. He said he had already spoken to the Juhu police station and they had been very supportive.

Juhu police said they would take the case seriously only after a complaint is officially filed. “Since it is not just anybody but Salman, who has a bad record, we will take the complaint seriously,” said an officer.

Vivek said the police had also offered protection, which he had turned down.

Salman was arrested late last year after a man was crushed under the wheels of his Toyota when he was returning from a nightclub after an interview of Aishwarya appeared in a daily here in which she suggested that they had broken up.

With a personal life messed up so badly, his career hasn’t been going well either. In contrast, the younger actor’s star is rising.

Vivek said Salman first asked him to stop having affairs with the women he named, but went on to speak about his career also.

“ ‘I’ll be no. 1 again,’ ” Salman allegedly told Vivek, whom he also accused of stealing roles. “Maybe he is feeling insecure about his career which he feels is going down the drain,” Vivek said.

He alleged that Salman said he would use his “influence” to bring him to his knees.

“Someone had to stand up against this behaviour. We cannot have people who go on abusing people, running over sleeping citizens, beating women and claim to do it all under the influence of some emotional problem,” he said.

Vivek said Salman made the calls to his mobile and sent odd messages. “I stopped picking up the phone because of these calls.”

Salman apparently refused to come to his house for a chat after being invited because he was “sleepy” but said they would meet later.

“What he is doing has to stop. He is like a schoolboy. He even beats up women, when I feel that a real man should protect and respect his women,” Vivek said.

He said many people had asked him not to go to the media because of the consequences. Actress Rani Mukerjee, a close friend, visited him yesterday and advised him to keep quiet. The film industry hates to wash its dirty linen in public.

“But let me apologise to you, Rani, I had to do it,” Vivek said. “Someone has to stand up. What is this nonsense going on?”

He said Salim Khan may never forgive him for going public but added that he had to take this step nonetheless.