Salman Khan photographed at his residence in Mumbai.
New Delhi:
An apartment block in Mumbai's tiny Bandra neighbourhood has taken measures to fan and paparazzi-proof itself ahead of the release of this Friday's Bollywood release, Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Galaxy Apartments, home to superstar Salman Khan and his family, has armed itself with extra fortifications - iron spikes have been embedded into walls, shards of glass rise out of the roof of the building that houses the complex's security guards.
All this, because its most famous resident commands crowds of crazed fans on any given day and especially come Eid, the date that's usually booked for a Salman film.
A report in mid-day quotes a member of the apartment complex's managing committee as saying, "Each time there is a film release or a court verdict, the crowd swells out of proportion. Even our nearly six-feet-tall compound walls do not deter fans and paparazzi from scaling them to click a photo or get a glimpse of the actor, who lives on the first floor of the building."
The spikes and glass were installed just last week, to help security guards in their 24x7 vigilance.
Just how boisterous the fans can get was captured on camera in May when the actor was first convicted in the 2002 hit-and-run case and then had his five-year sentence suspended pending appeal by the High Court. For days, Salman's devotees were camped outside his home, singing, dancing and letting off fireworks after the High Court's decision. When he made his first and only public acknowledgment of the gathering from his balcony, Salman gesticulated to fans to keep it down.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the latest in a series of Salman films timed to release on Eid, is a blockbuster-in-the-making. Every film starring the Khan since 2010's Dabangg has raked in over Rs 100 crores, even the reviled Jai Ho. This latest movie casts the 49-year-old actor in the role his fans pay big money to see him in - the aam aadmi who dedicates his energies to helping another. This version is a Hanuman devotee who vows to see a little girl safely home to Pakistan, stopping at the Dargah in Ajmer on the way.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan re-unites Salman with actress Kareena Kapoor and director Kabir Khan, both of who he has previously delivered blockbusters with - Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger.
All this, because its most famous resident commands crowds of crazed fans on any given day and especially come Eid, the date that's usually booked for a Salman film.
A report in mid-day quotes a member of the apartment complex's managing committee as saying, "Each time there is a film release or a court verdict, the crowd swells out of proportion. Even our nearly six-feet-tall compound walls do not deter fans and paparazzi from scaling them to click a photo or get a glimpse of the actor, who lives on the first floor of the building."
The spikes and glass were installed just last week, to help security guards in their 24x7 vigilance.
Just how boisterous the fans can get was captured on camera in May when the actor was first convicted in the 2002 hit-and-run case and then had his five-year sentence suspended pending appeal by the High Court. For days, Salman's devotees were camped outside his home, singing, dancing and letting off fireworks after the High Court's decision. When he made his first and only public acknowledgment of the gathering from his balcony, Salman gesticulated to fans to keep it down.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the latest in a series of Salman films timed to release on Eid, is a blockbuster-in-the-making. Every film starring the Khan since 2010's Dabangg has raked in over Rs 100 crores, even the reviled Jai Ho. This latest movie casts the 49-year-old actor in the role his fans pay big money to see him in - the aam aadmi who dedicates his energies to helping another. This version is a Hanuman devotee who vows to see a little girl safely home to Pakistan, stopping at the Dargah in Ajmer on the way.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan re-unites Salman with actress Kareena Kapoor and director Kabir Khan, both of who he has previously delivered blockbusters with - Bodyguard and Ek Tha Tiger.
