At the age of seven, he gave his first public performance at the opening ceremony of
Bathinda Doordarshan (TV station), with his song,
Charkhe Di Ghook, and thus earned the name Master Saleem. Soon he started appearing on TV shows like,
Jhilmil Taare. It was released on the label
Sur Taal, created by his father's friend, Manjinder Singh Goli, and went on to become a hit. Around 2005, singer
Jasbir Jassi introduced him to music director
Sandeep Chowta, who subsequently called him to Delhi to record single
Sajni in Sony Music album
Teri Sajni. Eventually
Shankar Mahadevan, of the music trio
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, heard his performances at a
jagaran at the Devi Talaab Mandir, Jalandhar, being aired on a religious TV channel, and thus Saleem made his debut as playback singer with single "Mast Kalandar" from the film
Heyy Babyy (2007) under their music direction. The song was a hit and launched his Bollywood career. This was followed by most well-known singles including "Tashan Mein" from the film
Tashan and
Maa Da Ladla from the film
Dostana (2008), and
Aahun Aahun in
Love Aaj Kal (2009). and in 2010 some of his hit songs have been "Humka Peeni Hai" from "
Dabangg and "Shakira" in "
No Problem and "Chamki Jawani" in
Yamla Pagla Deewana. In 2011, one of his first hits was "Rola Pe Gaya" in
Patiala House. ==Television==