Throwback Thursday: When Maniesh Paul pulled Salman Khan's leg for 'Naiyo Lagda' hookstep 

Maniesh Paul and Salman Khan

Maniesh Paul is most popularly known as an anchor and has hosted multiple reality and award shows over the years. Earlier this year, he hosted the Filmfare Awards 2023 along with superstar Salman Khan. Paul was extremely comfortable and shared a camaraderie with the superstar who might often come across as initimidating.

During the Filmfare Awards earlier this year, Maniesh Paul was seen trolling Salman Khan on stage for his hookstep on the song 'Naiyo Lagda'. At one point on the show, Salman and Maniesh invite Ayushmann Khurrana on stage and make him perform his hook step 'Jeda Nasha'. Looking at Ayushmann Khurrana perform complicated steps, Salman Khan stands there with a stunned face. To this, Paul reacts and says, "Sir aap ye sab chodo, aap ke liye yehi thik hai" and proceeds to do the 'Naiyo Lagda' hookstep to the tunes of 'Jeda Nasha'.

Replying to him, Salman Khan with a serious face says, "Tumlog ye keh rahe ho ki mujhse ye sab hoga nahi". Ayushmann and Maniesh say that is not what they meant when they are interrupted by Salman who says, "... you are right, mujhse nahi hoga" and everyone burst out laughing.

When 'Naiyo Lagda' was released earlier this year, a romantic track featuring Salman Khan and Pooja Hegde, the superstar was trolled for the hookstep. With the hookstep resembling a form of exercise like squats and lunges, netizens began trolling it. Back then, talking to Mid-day.com, choreographer Shabina Khan defended the actor saying he does not deserve such comments. "Trolls are jobless 'khali dimaag shaitan ka ghar.' These are the kind of people who don't spare megastars like Shah Rukh and Salman. I remain unaffected if they troll a step that I created. I take it in a positive way that they troll me because I've done a good job and I'm famous. They only troll people who have made a name for themselves with hard work, because they are fools. Any publicity is good publicity, if they want to become famous by trolling me, so be it. All I can say is that neither these people have taught me dance nor they have reached my stature, so I really don't care about such people," she said.