Fall of Salman Khan
From Bollywood's bosom to Bombay cell
How fall the famous. From stardom's dizzy heights, from Bollywood's bosom to a Bombay jail, from the zenith of his fame to the nadir of his infamy, Indian actor Salman Khan faces the prospect this morning of soon waking up in a dingy prison cell after being sentenced on Wednesday to a five-year term for killing a sleeping homeless man and running over five others on a Mumbai pavement whilst driving his SUV in a drunken stupor. For the moment he is free on bail until his appeal is heard in July.
Accidents can happen even to the most sober and an unintentional slip can result in tragedy. It can happen to anyone. But what cannot be condoned but only condemned is the shocking way in which Salman Khan chose to premeditatedly.act to hide his villainy thereafter.
After the incident took place on the night of September 27, 2002, when, with him at the wheel, his Toyota Land Cruiser swerved off the road and ran up the stairs of a laundromat, Salman Khan did not stop to inquire whether any of his victims needed help. Instead, he fled the scene and did not even report the accident to the police. When the story broke, he claimed that it was his driver who had been at the wheel and made the poor chauffeur the convenient scapegoat for his crime: the fall guy, in an audacious cover up to ensure he continued making the covers of Bollywood's film mags as Hindi cinema's technicolor star. He also told the court under oath that he had not touched a drink that whole day.
But the Mumbai Court heard otherwise from witnesses. And so did the judge hold otherwise. The prosecution produced 27 witnesses, including the actor's bodyguard, the bar staff, policemen and a parking attendant. They all swore that Salman had been driving and was drunk. Finding him guilty, Judge Deshpande declared, "You were driving the car; you were
What a double life he would have led, a double role played to perfection worthy of a Bollywood Oscar, these last thirteen years shadowed by double guilt. But truth outs in the end and justice finally triumphs; and, even if the due process fails to come up with the evidence to bring the guilty to justice, what the karmic law has in its inexorable operation will ultimately inevitably deal punishment to the guilty.
under the influence of alcohol."
The 50-year-old actor, who was jailed for a year in 1998 when he killed two endangered Indian antelopes on a hunting spree, broke down in tears the moment he heard the verdict and sentence. He deserves it. He attempted to make his driver the killer. He unduly influenced the poor man to take the rap. He tried to upload his sins to his driver and make him take his place to languish in a prison cell while he lives it up with Bollywood belles in bed and basks in the limelight in freedom bought with his celluloid cash. He lied to court and tried to pervert the course of justice.
What a double life he would have led, a double role played to perfection worthy of a Bollywood Oscar, these last thirteen years shadowed by double guilt. But truth outs in the end and justice finally triumphs; and, even if the due process fails to come up with the evidence to bring the guilty to justice, what the karmic law has in its inexorable operation will ultimately inevitably deal punishment to the guilty.
Perhaps the Rajapaksas had no clue as to the shady character of this sloshed Indian wallah when they brought him down to Lanka and feted him and his travelling escort, the Lankan born filly Jackie, like royalty to tell Lankans whom to vote at January's presidential election.
But to some of his fans, Salman Khan, the hero of the films Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Ek Tha Tiger, which made billions, can do no wrong. 'He is our hero and this incident will not change our love for him," they said.
Isn't that the same kind of attitude some Sri Lankans seem to hold and display for their own fallen political idols, when they fervently sing hosannas in adulatory worship to bestow saintdom on live sinners, in a bid to resurrect them to their stained altars?