Salman Khan, who said couples should enjoy kissing in real life and not on screen, led director Ali Abbas Zafar to chop out an intimate sequence from Tiger Zinda Hai, reports NDTV.

According to a Deccan Chronicle report, the sequence was of immense importance to the plot of the script and hence, the makers were hopeful about getting a go-ahead from Salman. But even the director could reportedly not change Salman’s decision: ‘Director Ali Abbas Zafar tried his best to convince him. However, nothing worked.’

‘Everyone felt that just this one time, just once, Salman would break his no-kissing code because the sequence is vital to the plot and also because, well, it's Katrina. But Salman refused outright,’ Deccan Chronicle quoted a source as saying.

This news arrives merely weeks after Salman Khan reportedly asked the makers of Race 3 that intimate scenes be toned down in the movie - this is just one of the many alterations the 52-year-old superstar reportedly suggested in the script. A mid-day report published earlier stated that Salman abstains from intimate scenes because the idea of his mother Salma Khan watching him kiss on screen makes him uncomfortable.

Bollywood bhaijaan's Christmas offering will see him reprise his role as RAW agent Tiger while Katrina plays a Pakistani spy in Tiger Zinda Hai. However, the movie is not really a sequel to 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger, says Mr Zafar.

Tiger Zinda Hai is scheduled to hit screens on 22 December.