New York Times (May 18, 2012)
Fans Denouce King Khan After A Public Brawl
By SRUTHI GOTTIPATI
Indranil Mukherjee/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Bollywood actor and Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight
Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, in a black shirt, gestures towards a
security guard after the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket match
between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede
Stadium, Mumbai, May 17, 2012.
Indians love Bollywood, the term used for the Hindi film industry. And
Indians love cricket.
But when the two clash, you have a sequence right out of a Bollywood
potboiler.
Shah Rukh Khan, one of Bollywood’s leading men and owner of a cricket
team, the Kolkata Knight Riders, is accused of abusing and assaulting
security guards after his team won a game against the Mumbai Indians
team, in an Indian Premier League cricket match on Wednesday night.
Mr. Khan denied assaulting the security guards and said they had pushed
around his children at the stadium. Cricket officials, however, have
filed a complaint to the police against him and have sought to ban him
from the stadium.
India Ink hit the streets of Mumbai to find out what people in the
city, home to Bollywood, and host to Wednesday’s game in which the home
team lost, made of the “scuffle.”
“It must be a stunt,” said Udit Mohite, an 18-year-old playing cricket
with other teenagers at Oval Maidan on Thursday afternoon. As he took
his turn to bat, he said he supports cricket officials in the tussle.
His views were shared by Riddish Bhatkal, who was fielding in the same
game.
“As owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, he has some responsibilities,”
said Mr. Bhatkal, 18, a college student, noting that Mr. Khan wasn’t
demonstrating the propriety expected of a cricket team owner. A fan of
the rival Mumbai Indians cricket team, Mr. Bhatkal, sporting checked
cutoffs, said Mr. Khan isn’t his favorite actor, either. He prefers
Aamir Khan, another Bollywood star unrelated to Mr. Khan.
At the Regal movie theatre at Colaba, a couple of Bollywood fans popped
out after watching the latest offering (which didn’t star Mr. Khan).
But Mr. Khan, often considered the king of Bollywood, didn’t appear to
find much support here either.
Mr. Khan’s behavior “is totally bad for cricket,” said Pradeep Shimpi,
23, who supports the Mumbai Indians team, saying he’s not surprised the
star got into a brawl. “It’s expected from him.”
His colleague, Nikhila Kasle, 25, standing outside the movie theater,
poked him playfully. “You can’t blame him for that,” she said.
“Somebody must have done something to provoke him.”
Confessing that she’s a loyal fan of Mr. Khan, Ms. Kasle said he might
have an “attitude” but quickly adds that it’s a personality trait that
comes with stardom.
Outside the Wankhede Stadium, where the cricket match was held on
Wednesday evening, a Mumbai Cricket Association official was far more
brusque about the actor’s behavior.
“We don’t want such people on the cricket ground,” said Ravi Savant.
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