Mumbai, Sept 01: Bollywood star Salman Khan, who was released on bail yesterday after being in prison for six days, was at his witty best handling questions from the media and even tried to suggest that his family was "upset" at his release.
Asked how his family reacted to his release from prison after getting reprieve in the Chinkara poaching case, the 41-year-old star said " They are very upset that I have been released." He also said that they wanted him to be behind bars for "some more days."
Another question lobbed at Salmam went like this.
You seem to have matured over the last nine years?
Salman's reply: "I have been mature since I was born."
Q) Are you planning to get married soon?
A) Without the will of God, even a leaf can't move. When it is time for me to get married, I will.
Salman went on to tell the reporter " First let your child grow up and get married... I will get married after that."
To a question whether he was happy with the media coverage, he said "Yes".
Bollywood relieved
With almost Rs 100 crore riding on films starring Salman Khan, the Hindi film industry was relieved as the actor secured bail and returned home last night.
"The arrest of Salman Khan was a jolt for the Hindi film industry as almost Rs 100 crore was at stake. But as of now the situation is not that serious," trade analyst and critic Komal Nahata said.
"Salman can return to shooting his films. He can start working on at least two films - Afzal Khan's 'God Tussi Great Ho' and Boney Kapoor's 'Wanted: Dead or Alive'. His jail sentence would have affected his work," Nahata said.
Now Salman can proceed to do his work freely, he said.
Expressing similar views, Kumar Mohan, editor of the trade magazine Complete Cinema, said Salman's films would have been affected if he had remained in jail for long.
"Salman has two films on the floors as of now, one is 'God Tussi Great Ho' (Rs 35 crore), which has been in the making for the past two-and-half years," he said.
The other film is a remake of the Tamil hit "Pokhri" (Rs 35-40 crore) that is being produced by Boney Kapoor. Shooting has just begun for this film that also stars Ayesha Takia.
"There are several other films that Salman has signed but for which shooting has not yet started. Now that he has been released on bail, work on some of the films could begin and we expect him to resume shooting soon," he said.
Moreover, it is unlikely that Salman would have to return to jail soon and producers scheduled to work with him would be happy.
Salman was freed on bail after being arrested to serve a five-year jail term for poaching an endangered chinkara.
Bureau Report
