Salman fails to identify Shakeel henchman
Actor was threatened by accused to act in Bharat Shah movie
Actor Salman Khan on Thursday deposed before a special MCOCA court here as a prosecution witness against ganglord Chhota Shakeel’s henchman Anjum Fazlani and diamond king Bharat Shah’s secretary Tarun Shah.
The duo is facing charges of threatening actors, including Salman, on various counts. Salman was threatened to reduce his fees for a Bharat Shah film “Chori Chori Chupke Chupke”, which was actually financed by Shakeel.
The actor, however, failed to identify the accused in the court and said he might have met Fazlani several years ago and “do not remember him.” Salman told the court that he was threatened by the accused people to reduce his fee for the movie or face dire consequences.
According to the prosecution, the film was financed by Shah at the behest of Chhota Shakeel. Several Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Rakesh Roshan and Mahesh Manjrekar had deposed in the trial against Shah and Rizvi.
The actor, clad in a black shirt and off-white trousers, told the court he was approached by Rizvi and assistant producer Abdul Rahim Allahbaksh with an offer to play the lead role in the movie.
“I agreed to the offer but on the condition that the movie should be directed by a well-established director. Rahim wanted to direct the movie himself, but then agreed and the movie was directed by Abbas-Mastan,” Salman said.
