Salman Khan on facial disorder: Fans don’t care about your pain

It is not often that Salman Khan speaks about his personal issues. The Tubelight song launch event in Dubai yesterday was one of the few occasions when the actor opened up about trigeminal neuralgia, the facial disorder he is suffering from since a long time. 

After the launch of the ‘Radio Song,’ the actor, while conversing with his fans, touched upon the topic of his disorder. He said that the pain is not an excuse for giving a bad performance. “Your fans don’t care about it and that you really need to give your best on screen. Once it’s printed, it’s lifelong. No matter how much pain you are going through, it made me realise that you can’t put any subtitles — your ligament is torn, you have the flu or that your knee is hurting — in any of your scenes,” he said. 

The Sultan actor has been suffering from the ailment for many years now. In 2011, he had revealed that he has been suffering from it since last seven years and the pain is unbearable at times. “I am suffering from trigeminal neuralgia, a facial nerve problem I have had since the last seven years. But now, it’s getting worse. Ab dard hadd se paar ho gaya hai [The pain has passed my limit] and I am going to kill it,” he had said.

He had also stated that the change of his voice is due to the illness. “There is a flex and hoarseness in my voice. It’s not because I am drunk. I don’t drink during Ramadan. It’s because of this ailment. I’m doing fine. It’s just that now, I had no choice but to pay attention to my health,” he said at the song launch. 

In the same year, the actor had also visited the US for treatment just before the release of Bodyguard (2011) and had undergone a surgery in a top hospital.