The ‘raped woman’ comment by Salman Khan has now opened a can of worms for the actor. Several ghastly skeletons are slowly tumbling out of the star’s well stocked closet.
Sachin Kalbag, Resident Editor of The Hindu, Mumbai put out a series of tweets that described just how a star behaved with a lady film critic and journalist before an interview. Though he has not named Salman in his tweets, it’s pretty clear who the actor in question here is.
More than a decade ago, an independent, national award-winning film critic had gone to interview a famous actor now in the news. The film critic had panned a few films in which the said actor had a lead role or was one of the male leads. He held a grudge. But since a new movie was releasing, he had to give interviews. Unfortunately, it was with this critic. He had to avenge, though. So first he made her wait for several hours in the hot sun and then asked her to sit on a set prop (a ‘khatiya’). She sat. Waited. Finally, he emerged. He told her, “Wait, I have to pee.” He then went to a tree 5 ft away, unzipped his and peed in front of her. That was the actor’s “revenge” on a female film critic and reporter who had the “audacity” to not like his movies. The said film reporter and critic, rightly, walked off. Her editor supported her decision.Sachin Kalbag (Twitter)
Also doing the rounds on Twitter is an excerpt from author and journalist Mayank Shekhar’s blog on Salman Khan, which describes a rather disturbing encounter between a female reporter and the star:
I’d just heard about how filmstar Salman Khan had insisted he drop a journalist back home after a long interview. It wasn’t too late in the evening. She didn’t particularly fancy a chivalrous ride. But he wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’s a bit of a brat like that.She gave up. They drove together. She found the spot where she needed to be dropped. He insisted on driving her right up to her building’s gate, asked her to specifically point out the floor she stayed in. “Now I know where you live,” he told her. Sweetly. “The interview I just gave you? Don’t publish it.” By all accounts the piece never saw the colour of print.Mayank Shekhar (Hindustan Times)
The rate at which stories of Salman Khan’s brash and obnoxious behaviour and attitude are cropping up, the actor’s PR team will have to work overtime to get Salman’s Being Human face back into focus.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)