Memorable moment for Salman Khan
Salman Khan will not forget March 14, 2008 for quite some time to come. The actor was called as a special guest to inaugurate Hyderabad's swanky, new international airport but the Bollywood superstar was totally ignored at the glittering ceremony arranged at the sprawling airport complex. Bollywood actress Dia Mirza hosted the ceremony, held amidst tight security since many politicians attended the function.
Salman arrived at the scheduled time of 3 pm. However, till then, the politicians who were supposed to attend- Sonia Gandhi (the airport is named after the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi), Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajsheker Reddy and G N Rao of GMR construction- hadn't arrived.
Says an eyewitness, "Most of the politicians, including Soniaji, came in around 4.30 pm. while Salman waited patiently for them. He was asked to sit in the sixth row in the audience."
Our source adds, "One expected that after the arrival of the dignitaries, Salman would be invited on stage- but nothing of that sort happened. Salman continued to sit in the sixth row amongst the common people and not even once was he called on stage. Not only that, his name was not even mentioned by anybody on stage. Dia could not take his name because she had a bound script. No politician interacted with him even backstage."
"It was simply ridiculous. If you call such a big personality like Salman and don't even acknowledge his presence, then why call him at all? This is not done. It was simply ridiculous," our source adds.
So what did Salman do? A friend of Salman says, "Bechara Salman sat through the ceremony very quietly. He looked very amused but did not do anything to make a noise, which would indicate that he was present and was being neglected. Around 6 pm, he quietly got up and left, this time his face did look a tad disappointed. Obviously he had informed the organisers about the time that he had to leave and catch a flight back home. Hence it is all the more surprising that the organisers didn't acknowledge his presence for nearly three hours when he was seated there."
Soon after, Salman took a flight and came back to Mumbai.
Jhanak
30