Actor Salman Khan has completed 31 years in the film industry and three decades since his debut film as a hero, ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, hit the screens in 1989. In the intervening period the actor has achieved unparalleled heights and also, in contrast, has been subject to personal distress of great proportions, in keeping with the seemingly larger-than-life canvas of his existence. After all these decades of distant association, we think we can surmise a couple of things about this hero. For instance, we know that he’s intensely loyal to his family and that they are his life and soul, his most intimate support system. We gather that he’s an immensely generous man, donating large sums in charity and someone who appears to have genuine feeling for the downtrodden and the marginalised. We also know that his girlfriends adore him and that he’s generally chivalrous to women even if he refuses to commit to marriage. Of course, practically everybody knows that he’s a macho and don’t-mess-with-me kind of man, unlike say a Shah Rukh Khan who’s more intellectual and friendly. We know that the size of Salman’s hits has redefined box office parameters first with the Rs100 crore club, then the Rs200 crore club and now also the unbelievable Rs300 crore club. We also realise that millions of his fans, of all sizes and shapes, spread across the world, swear by him. Undoubtedly, to have survived and flourished for three decades as a top hero is no mean achievement even if it included unforeseen brushes with the law-and-order machinery of the country. As he celebrates three decades of mega-success this year we wish this fairly enigmatic actor, who keeps his own counsel, even greater success with a wish for his happiness.