The increasing episodes of a concerned, and a consistently apologetic father, rescuing his celebrity son from slippery slopes of controversy have come to define the public relationship between two of India’s most well-known figures in the cinema industry — playwright Salim Khan and his movie star son, Salman Khan.
As Salman Khan retracts and apologises for his slew of tweets on Yakoub Memon, the death row convict for the 1993 Mumbai blasts, under the able guidance of his contrite father, his actions attest to the actor’s inability to distinguish between populism and politics at a time of heightened sensitivity about the case. The stupendous success of his latest movie seems to have blurred the harsh edges of a reality he is burdened with — a guilty verdict by the Mumbai high court for his 2002 hit-and-run case. But the truth is, the road ahead for Salman Khan continues to be rocky. Unlike in the plot of his latest smash hit where politics genuflected to emotional grandstanding, Salman needs to realise that in real life, a reversal of trends is the only predictable outcome.
