Salman Khan introduces star in the making, Pranutan Bahl, Nutan’s granddaughter

Salman Khan has introduced a fresh face to Bollywood. The 52-year-old star and host of Bigg Boss on Monday formally made an announcement about Pranutan - the granddaughter of the legendary yesteryear actor Nutan and Mohnish Bahl's daughter. She will star opposite newcomer Zaheer Iqbal, whose debut was announced by Salman earlier this year.

The Race 3 star took to Twitter to reveal the news, writing, "Yeh lo! Zahero ki heroine mil gayi. Swagat karo Pranutan Bahl ka. Proud to introduce Nutanji's granddaughter & Monya's daughter to the big screen."

Produced by Salman Khan Films, Murad Khetani and Ashwin Varde, the film will be directed by Nitin Kakkar. The shooting, which will take place entirely in Kashmir, is touted to begin later this month.

Salman had made a huge show of introducing his fans to Zaheer, building up to the reveal on Twitter. Zaheer, who is the son of Salman’s childhood friend, does not have a film background. The actor wrote that he still owes him money and launching Zaheer is a payback of sorts. “N this is my childhood frnd Iqbal, as a teen he was my bank, I still owe him 2011rs . thnk God he did not take interest bete ko launch Kar raha hoon toh baap ka post toh karsakta hoon na. Lv the pic,” he wrote.

Salman had been personally overseeing Zaheer’s training for the last few months. In fact, he’s the one who named him ‘Zahero’.

Zaheer and Pranutan are not the first ones to be introduced or mentored by Salman. They join a long list of stars and star kids including Hrithik Roshan, Sooraj Pancholi, Arjun Kapoor, Pulkit Samrat and Katrina Kaif, among several others, whom Salman has mentored. However, refusing to be acknowledged as a godfather to many Bollywood star, Salman had said, “Somebody gave me a break so I am doing the same. It’s also because my upbringing has been very correct. There’s no insecurity or jealousy. I like people to be successful and have a great future ahead. If you are doing well, your family is doing well. Every day that I don’t work I feel guilty.”

With agency inputs

Follow @htshowbiz for more