Salman Khan, who is back in Mumbai after the shooting of Ek Tha Tiger in Cuba, came out in support of his fellow actor Saif Ali Khan on Friday, saying that media should have waited for his version and should have confirmed the facts before running what was carried on television.
“Even the press sounded like it was on Sharma’s side yesterday. They didn’t even bother to ask what happened to Saif. Did Saif get hit first or not? We should have waited for Saif to come out and say what he had to say,” Salman told reporters after he was asked to comment on the incident.
Saif Ali Khan was involved in a scuffle early on Wednesday at Wasabi, the Japanese restaurant at Taj Mahal Palace with South Africa-based Indian businessman Iqbal Sharma. According to Sharma, Saif called him an “idiot” for complaining about the actor’s loud conduct at the restaurant. He said he and his family had requested the restaurant manager to ask the actor and his friends — which included Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora and Malaika Arora Khan — to keep their voices down. Saif later rebutted that he was provoked by the businessman to do so.
Salman, on the other hand, was not ready to accept that Saif’s conduct was the only reason behind the brawl and kept repeating that there was another side to the story, which the media is not highlighting. “You don’t go to a restaurant to mourn. You go to have dinner and drinks. My family was there, everybody was there. (Sharma) may be right, but my point is that the media needs to find out the entire thing and then come on TV.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2012.
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Sure actors are not above the law and must be treated the way any1 else is. But in Saif's case some1 has been after him since quite some time trying to postpone his wedding on one or another pretext. First his father suddenly passes away through unexplained illness, and his marriage was postponed, then when he said he will marry after Agent Vinod - there were man-made obstructions so his shoot was postponed, now he is ready to marry and release the film then this personal defamation starts over a minor brawl that people have often. Some1 was projecting Iqbal Sharma as some maha respectable professional when in reality he has such low credibility - with a wife from Bollywood who plays D grade roles, bikini model, IPL cheergal of South Africa. But then what difference does all this make. Kareena is still the highest paid actress with a series of films, she will still be the begum, and thanks to this some1 more people will go to watch Agent Vinod!!
He is defending because - there are pending cases against him for driving a car over some poor people sleeping on footpath while he was driving drunk - His bhabhi Malaika Arora Khan was there.
Yes. you do not go to the restaurant to mourn and it is very possible that sometimes parties tend to get loud when everyone is ina cheerful mood. But if other guests requests not once but 3 times to keep it down, then someone like Said who claims to be very polished because of his royal lineage should have showed some consideration to other people who were also there to enjoy their evening. I don't buy Salman's argument.