Truly Devdas

Give the guy a break. All of us deserve our moments of irrational behavior. I only hope salman gets out of the legal tangles he has gotten himself into. It is frustrating to think that a man has been killed in all this stupditiy.

Ridiculous. He killed a fellow. Love or no love, that`s no excuse for murder. And a dumbo who can`t see when a woman is not in love with him anymore, is not worth a note of the love songs he croons. True love is sacrifice, understanding, ensuring the other person`s happiness. Not losing your senses and running over people.

Seriously? Who did he kill? Isn`t he like one of the biggest star of Bollywood? (Duh... that was a dumb question. After all, his name has Khan in it)

Sometimes corny daytime talk shows also have their moments of rare brilliance. Somtime back on Oprah Winfrey, that quack who calls himself Dr. Phil made a telling comment- ``Love is not a feeling, it is a behaviour``. So true. If Sallu-miya truly ``loves`` Ash-baby, there is no reason he should go around treating her like his portable punching bag, terrorising her family and assaulting her watchman--- that is not ``love`` it`s madness.
Ash did well to cut him off. Now if the jerk uses this as an excuse for mowing down pavement dwellers in the eraly hours, he`s not going to get much sympathy from anyone - except perhaps his high-society buddies, but then they forgive anything. It`s especially sad when people like the author mouth these same statements because then it gives legitamacy to what is frnakly an unforgivable set of actions from a guy who definitely needs more brain and less muscle.

Just what Chowk needs: ``Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous``.

Write about the pavement dwellers, Arora. At least, we will then have a slugfest about why India should cut its defense spending, get out of Kashmir, spend the money on social welfare programs, etc. Oh, yeah; and the vision of Gandhi and Quaid-e-Azam will also figure in hugely.

Adnan#3
``Seriously? Who did he kill? Isn`t he like one of the biggest star of Bollywood? (Duh... that was a dumb question. After all, his name has Khan in it) ``

He ran his car over a few people sleeping on the pavement a couple of weeks back. He was found to be heavily drunk when taken into police custody.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

I hate Salman for hitting and beating up the Goddess Aishwarya. Anybody that could have that honey dripping ultimate babe and treat her like that is the biggest fool alive.

Anil Saab:

Thank you for the article. You`ve blended celluloid life and real life well. One does wonder how a person whose entire life is so publicized deals with their emotions and troubles. They are human after all. But we all love to criticize their behavior don`t we. Even if we don`t put the person down, there`s something inside us saying - look at what he did, can you believe him!

We`re all like that, we`re humans, we make mistakes. We don`t know what`s happened with Salman and Ash. Did he really beat her up? Did a friend of a friend of a friend of yours see it happen? Or did the story travel around and gain momentum?

We all do very stupid things for what we think is love. LadyAna it`s not easy to just pull yourself out of the mess and say to yourself - hey, so big deal this woman does not like me. I was voted as the 7th sexiest man in the world (by some magazine??). I will concentrate on my work, or spend more time at charities or with underprivileged people and see life from a different point of view. It`s not easy to shut off all that emotion. Like someone else said on a different board, it`s very hard to separate fantasy from real life. And in most cases love is enmeshed with the person`s self-image. So you never know what`s driving the person.

I hate to do an analysis like this, but even i succumb to it, as far as i can tell this guy has a very low self esteem. And it seems that he`d attached a lot more meaning to his relationship than any guy who was basically comfortable about himself would. That`s what`s brought about such rash behavior.

dost-mittar:

your completely opposite view may be right, but i still stick to my belief. I don`t claim that he`s a great actor, but he`s done decent job in a few films -- Khamoshi and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam - both directed by the Sanjay Leela Bhansali mentioned in this article (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/asianlife/tv/east/east2002/bob/biog_sanjay_leela_bhansali.shtml) for an article about this. Salman`s role in either of the films was not acclaimed. I also liked Salman Khan in `Andaz Apna Apna` and `Pyar kiya to darna kya`. I think basically he`s your average film star.

But besides his acting ability there are a few issues being discussed here:

1. the rich and their behavior - like this Nanda case and also another bollywood film star - Raj Kumar`s son - Puru Rajkumar had apparantly killed a few people a few years back (1992) -- Yes the rich seem to do that, get drunk, behave like brats and idiots with utter disregard towards the poor? right? we can complain about the rich. But we cannot stereotype in this case based on this information. (I seem to have chosend to be Salman`s lawyer on this board...oh well).
2. Salman`s jilted lover behavior.
3. Salman`s very public life and the effect of that on his personal life.

I agree that driving drunk and driving without license was stupid - but don`t `the not so rich people` also do that? I may do that one day - although i`m not rich and i fully well know the law of the land and how dangerous it could be for myself or others.

I don`t understand the deal around shooting the blackbuck, it was stupid again. but don`t know the story, can`t comment on it.

can`t condemn some famous guy for being famous and also being human, and acting stupid for romanticized thing called love.

Aamir:

``Lets not forget the famous case of Nanda the naval brass`s grand son in Delhi 2 years ago who drove a brand new Beemer unregistered while drunk without valid driving license on to dozen foot path dwellers in Delhi .Since Nanda made billins in Bofors & other defence procurement contracts he bought the victim families with MONEY. ``


The whole Nanda khandaan is Harami. Wasn`t just money, threats too were used. Only thing is Nanda did not make money in Bofors, at least not much. His break came during the purchase of the HDW German submarines.

Dost-Mittarji and others,

I am not defending salman. The legal process must take its due course. A poor street-dweller is dead. Salman`s running away from the scene was an immoral and unpardonable act. He should pay for it. Finally, I have nothing but contempt for people`s money. It is the root of much that is evil and disgustingly shallow. But I do not dismiss a person just because he has or doesn`t have money. I was born quite poor. That was not a crime. By the same token, being or being born rich is not a crime.

Salman Khan has been criminally negligent, even a boor, but he is not a criminal. Sure, he must pay for his mistakes. But beyond that, the guy deserves our understanding as much as he deserves our condemnation.

It`s a personal thing. I have done some reckless things that astonish me in hindsight, Luckily no one was killed. But anyone who doesn`t intentionally kill or promote killings deserves a break, a chance to be rehabilitated AFTER paying for one`s mistakes.

All I am saying is that let`s not paint the guy as some sort of devil incarnate. I would punish him and then give him a chance to remake his life and his career.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

re Prem #13
I do not know what your definition of a criminal is but according to Indian laws, as far as I know, the following are considered crimes :
1. Killing endangered animals
2. Voluntarily causing hurt (sec 321 of IPC)
3. Culpable homicide not amounting to murder/ causing death by negligence (sec 304/304A of IPC)

These are three well known crimes Salman Khan is alleged to have comitted and that I guess certainly makes him an alleged criminal. I am not sure if driving without a license and driving drunk are considered crimes or traffic offences.

Prem # 13

Thank you, I tend to get carried away :)

mastram2:
as Prem mentioned he is definitely guilty of criminal negligence

you and i are not judges or lawyers - you and i are not witnesses to the incidents. Yes those instances need to be addressed.
Yes a message needs to be sent across that just being rich and famous does not meant that you are above the law.

But all this does not make one man we do not know a criminal. We cannot take our wrath against rich and their attitudes out on this guy. We do not have any basis to claim that he`s an irresponsible cold hearted son-of-a-bitch, let`s stone him. we do not even have the basis to assume to that he`s immature or whatever.

Like any other person who is famous, he has to bear the cross. If you or I were in a similar situation, no one else outside of our friends would know. We would not have all the world turn towards and call us idiots, or murderers, or rich bastard or whatever.

I agree with Prem that we all make mistakes, sometimes very rash ones. Someone I know was involved with the murder of someone else. Indirectly or whatever, I do not have the facts, I do not even know the whole story. He did a wrong thing. If the law had caught him, he would have been punished, perhaps he would`ve got away by connections or bribes etc. If he doesn`t get caught, then all one can hope for is that his own conscience will make him a better person.

What I am defending is the right that celebrities have of privacy and of being treated with compassion, whether they`ve made a mistake or whether they`ve been a victim (as in the case of Princess Diana)

re Brat # 16

Celebreties have a right to privacy. But they should also avoid committing criminal acts in public. Also, people like Salman Khan get a lot of things merely because they are famous. Fame can be a double-edged sword. If you or I were being threatened by Chhota Shakeel or Abu Salem`s goons we would not get 24 hours police escort. We would either cough up or get killed.

Also, while his latest crime can be called a crime of negligence, acts like taking a gun, aiming it at an animal and pulling the trigger don`t sound like acts of negligence to me. You can claim that he was negligent in not knowing that Wildlife Preservation Act exists in India and most, if not all, wild animals are protected by it. By the way he got off for that case as it was shown by the post-mortem report that blackbucks died because of over-eating. I had never heard of wild animals overeating before.

Also, he should not be punished more because he is rich, but he should be punished inspite of being rich and famous. And I doubt people`s conscience bother them much after they kill someone (you might want to see Crimes and Misdemeanors, a wonderful movie by Woody Allen). Sameer Nanda recently had a well reported party in Bombay to put behind the recent unfortunate incidents and start enjoying again. I doubt if Hitler, or Pol Pot , or Togadia, or HKL Bhagat or even the bajrang dal goons who actually slit throats are bothered in the least by conscience. We humans have infinite capacity for rationalization.

As Aamir mentioned earlier, an 18 year old jilted lover going berserk is understandable but a 38 year old man doing so is unpardonable.