Bollywood's "most eligible bachelor", Salman Khan, turned 43 on Saturday. The actor and his "Khan"daan left for their farmhouse at Panvel in Navi Mumbai on Friday night where he plans to spend his birthday in the company of close family and friends.

Salman, who has seen several ups and downs in his 20-year-old film career, remains one of the most loved personalities and one of the biggest draws in the industry.

The actor who recently turned script-writer with director Anil Sharma's 'Veer' is currently shooting for it in Mumbai.

Other upcoming films include Vipul Shah's 'London Dreams', Sohail Khan's 'Main aur Mrs Khanna' and Boney Kapoor's 'Wanted: Dead or alive'.

Salman is perhaps the only actor in the Hindi film industry who keeps his popularity ratings unchanged among fans despite a slew of flops in recent times.

The fact was evident by the stupendous success of his TV game show 'Dus Ka Dum', where his affable and easy going conduct was described as an extension of his real-life personality.

Part of the famous Khan troika - Shah Rukh and Aamir being the other two, Salman is among the top paid actors in the industry.

Often labelled as the "bad boy of the tinsel town", Salman had recently said in an interview that the image had been given to him by people "who could not get closer to him and did not know him well".

Salman was first seen as a part of the supporting cast in the film 'Biwi Ho To Aisi' in 1988, but it was the spectacular commercial success of his first solo lead 'Maine Pyar Kiya' in 1989, that catapulted him into the "big league".

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