Exclusive: When Salman Khan ‘Kicked’ media out

Utter mayhem and chaos reigned supreme at Royalty, an upscale nightclub in Bandra, Mumbai, when bouncers stationed for Salman Khan's security allegedly assaulted a group of photojournalists. And surprisingly, Salman remained a mute spectator preferring to watch the drama from the sidelines. Here's what happened. Salman Khan's upcoming movie Kick's brand new item number featuring Nargis Fakhri was scheduled to be unveiled at the above venue. Given that it was bhai's event, the media was present in full force. The lack of space near the entrance meant there was very little space for photojournalists (more than dozen in number) all of whom had to jostle for room for that perfect shot. As soon as Salman entered, all hell broke loose with photographers clicking Salman furiously before he went on stage. In the ensuing melee, one of the bouncers present allegedly rained abuses at a group of press photographers and allegedly pushed and shoved one of them making him almost lose his balance. This alleged act highly infuriated the entire group and a high decibel argument started between the manager, bouncers and the photogs. All this while, Salman coolly walked into the calmer precincts of the club which further angered the lensmen. More argument with the manager followed who was at his aggressive best while dealing with the media. ( Perhaps someone forgot to train him in anger management during crisis situations). Seeing the matter escalating to an ugly level, Salman walked up onto the makeshift stage. While everyone expected Salman to pacify the angry media personnel, Salman delivered a surprise. Grabbing a mike, Salman in his cavalier 'I don't care two hoots' attitude announced, 'Jisko rukhna hain rukh sakte hain aur Jisko jaan hain jaa sakte hain.' Then turning towards the warring photographers, Salman said, "Aap logon ko jaana hain na, jao." Dismayed at Salman's behaviour and curt response, the angry press photographers boycotted the event. Salman then proceeded to launch his new song in the presence of the rest of the media but not before asking once again if anyone wants to leave. "Maa kasam bolo...kisi aur ko jaana nahi hain na?" Salman chose to clarify his stand on the issue by saying that he has never denied anyone from clicking his photograph. As we saw it, Salman certainly was not the culprit as the event was highly mismanaged with no arrangements made for the media. However, what Salman could have done is soothe and pacify the photographers with his caring nature that he is known for. But his act of asking them to leave if they wished to, certainly doesn't go well with his 'Being Human' image that he promotes and often wears on his sleeve. According to reports last received, the photojournalists were in the process of registering a complaint against the erring bouncers and manager of the club. It's not clear if Salman would be made a party to the complaint. We feel it was not right on Salman's part to badly rebuke the press. Everyone present at the venue felt that the superstar should have acted in a more mature and dignified manner. After all, getting into the bad books of the press certainly doesn't augur well. Shraddha Kapoor had to apologise for her truant behaviour recently when media boycotted her unanimously. Let's wait and see if some apologies will emanate from Salman this time. Tellychakkar.com will keep a keen eye on the development.