Salman said had he tried making his Bollywood entry with an action film, the actor would have been compared to megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was then known as the angry-young man.
Hence, the 49-year-old actor took to romantic roles, initially, like "Maine Pyar Kiya" and "Hum Aapke Hai Koun!".
"If I would have done action film that time in the 80s... The people would have said he is trying to be like Mr Amitabh Bachchan. It has taken us a lot of time to stay and reach here. When we all came we looked like boys. The heroes before us all of them looked like men," Salman said in an interview here.
"Then those who came next looked like young men like Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Sanjay Dutt. We came we looked like boys. At that time we couldn't play inspectors, lawyers, local don, and all that. So we started off as romantic heroes... did comedies and then now doing action," he said.
The actor said it took him two decades to make the transition and he feels grateful to the audience for allowing him to experiment with his roles.
"Our audience makes us large and it is not because of what we do on screen alone. It is the reaction that comes from audience that makes you very big. There are lots of people, who contribute," he said.
"That connect comes from first film and it builds up. It has taken us 25-27 years to reach here. From the last five years we have started doing larger-than-life parts but it has taken a lot of time to get this reception. You can't get this kind of love and support straight after entering the industry," he added.
Salman said earlier he used to sign films because producers and directors would request him to do it but that is not the case anymore.
"Initially we use to sign films if filmmakers would come requesting to us. While shooting the film, we would realise our mistake.
"Our reaction would be 'Are yaar ye maine kya kar diya.' (Oh! What I have done) But today if I like the script and know it has the potential to do well, I would give my best to it," the "Wanted" star said.
He added a film is made on the writing table and the editing table and necessary changes can be made if unhappy.
"It takes around 15-20 days to re-shoot the portions which are better than releasing a bad film. The films that are doing well are because even if it goes wrong they know they (filmmakers) can correct it," he said.
The actor, however, does not regret doing any movies in his career till now.
Salman is looking forward to the release of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", directed by Kabir Khan, also starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
The film is slated to hit the screens on July 17.
