Anantnag family shattered
Suhail A Shah
Anantnag, May 6
Actor Salman Khan might have spent an anxious night ahead of the court verdict, but hundreds of miles from his Mumbai residence, a 75-year-old woman kept awake at a hillock last night, praying for the well-being of her ‘saviour’.
Zaina Begum, the widowed matriarch of a family recently adopted by the actor while shooting in Kashmir, observed a night-long prayer at the shrine of Zain-u-Din Wali at Aishmuqam village of Anantnag district. The ruling was like an anti-climax to the ‘fairytale’ for Zaina and her family, sending the family of six into mourning.
“We are a distraught lot and are in mourning. Nobody in the family has eaten anything since morning,” said Gowher Ahmad Bhat (18), Zaina’s grandson. Salman had promised Gowher a job in his crew after Zaina approached the actor for help.
Zaina has been living in penury with her widowed daughter-in-law and four grandchildren, including three granddaughters. Salman had promised them all possible financial help, apart from facilitating Gowher’s engagement on the sets of the film in Pahalgam.
This morning, as Zaina walked back from the shrine into the house, she was left distraught at the news playing at the television. “He is a messiah sent to us by Allah. I will keep praying for his well-being. Allah cannot be so cruel to people like him,” said a shaken Zaina.
Bollywood rallies behind Salman
Bollywood on Wednesday stood behind Salman Khan after he was pronounced guilty in the 2002 hit-and-run case. The Bollywood fraternity, including Hema Malini, Subhash Ghai, Anil Sharma and Riteish Deshmukh did not want to get into the merit of the court verdict but said their prayers were with him. However, tweets by singer Abhijeet and jewellery designer and Salman’s friend Farah Ali Khan in which they sought to blame the homeless for the star’s plight triggered a controversy. TNS
‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ shooting put on hold
Srinagar: The shooting for Salman Khan’s much-awaited film ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ has been put on hold after the verdict in the-hit-and-run case. Members of the crew are hopeful that Salman will be able to return to Kashmir to complete the last few sequences of the climax of film in the meadows of Sonamarg. Salman had spent most of the time in the Pahalgam valley of Kashmir, where he shot extensively.
