Salman Khan and family celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi

September 22, 2012

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A month after hosting a big Eid celebration, Galaxy apartments in Bandra, home to Salman Khan and his family, is buzzing with Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations today.

Even as you read this, all the members of the Khan family are participating in the religious rituals centered around Lord Ganesha.

“We brought in Lord Ganesha 11 years ago because Arpita (Salman’s little sister) insisted,” says Salma Khan, their mother. “She was very keen and took it upon herself to organise every detail of the festival. As she promised, she has been organising it single-handedly every year since then.”

In this modern Muslim home, a very secular atmosphere exists, as Hinduism, Islam and Christianity co-exist here happily, thanks to the efforts of Marathi-Brahmin Salma Khan (originally Sushila Charak), her husband Salim Khan and his second wife Helen, who is Catholic.

Earlier, when the Khans did not celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi at home, Salman, brothers Arbaaz and Sohail and sister Alvira would be taken to their aaji’s (maternal grandmother’s) home in Mahim for the festivities.

“In the evenings, I would dress up the kids and go to my mother’s house so the children could celebrate with our neighbours there,” Salma recollects fondly.

Her daughter Alvira, married to filmmaker Atul Agnihotri, recalls her childhood memories of the festival. “Though it wasn’t celebrated at home, Ganpati was great fun. Salman bhai, Arbaaz bhai, Sohail and I would run down the street to join the Ganpati processions that would halt before our house. We would participate in the aarti dance,” laughs Alvira.

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Today, she and her younger sister Arpita have become extremely devoted to Ganesha. They sometimes even walk barefoot to the Siddhivinayak Temple situated in Prabhadevi on Tuesdays.


In the one-and-a-half days that Ganesha resides in Galaxy, the religious rules of the festival are strictly adhered to.

Non-vegetarian food and alcohol are banned. Instead, the kitchen turns out delicacies like modak, masale bhaat, puri and aloo bhaji, vatlidal, pitthi and chana usal. “I love cooking and feeding people,” says Salma. “During Ganpati and Eid, I work in the kitchen with the assistance of my cooks.”

Salman, who has taken a two-day break from the shooting of Dabangg 2 in Satara, joins us, looking fresh after a rigorous workout and shower. “I feel blessed to be born and brought up in a house that respects every religion,” says the actor.

“The credit goes to mom, dad and Helen aunty. In Galaxy, God is one, though our paths to reach the almighty are different.”

In fact, all paths to God are open, if you take Salma as an example. Though she adopted Islam after marrying Salim, she did not let go of her faith: “I offer namaaz every day and recite the Quran verses just as I do my pujas and recite the Gayatri Mantra and the Hanuman Chalisa,” she explains. “On Wednesdays, we used to go to the church for Novena prayers as well. Choosing their faith is something we left to the children. However, Salim miya and I have taught them the basics of all the religions.”

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News Network
July 21,2020

Mumbai, Jul 21: Police have recorded statements ofthree psychiatrists and a psychotherapist as part of their probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput last month, a senior official said on Monday.

Their "statements were recorded over the last three- four days" by the Bandra police who are probing the case, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IX) Abhishek Trimukhe.

The late actor was consulting these mental health professionals and hence their statements were recorded as part of the ongoing probe, police said.

Rajput was undergoing treatment for depression since November 2019, they said.

Rajput, 34, was found hanging in his suburban Bandra apartment on June 14 in what the police claimed was a case of suicide. In the initial investigation, the Mumbai police had found that the actor was under medication for depression.

So far, the police have recorded statements of over 36 people, including director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra, actress Sanjana Sanghi and Rajput's friend Sandip Singh, among others.

Rajput's friend, actor Rhea Chakraborty, has also given her statement to the police.

Filmmaker Aditya Chopra recorded his statement in connection with the case at the Versova Police Station on Saturday.

Rajput starred in films such as 'Shuddh Desi Romance', 'Raabta', 'Kedarnath' and 'Sonchiriya'. But his most prominent role came as cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the biopic, 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Mumbai, Jul 28: Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to look into the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and direct the state police to register an FIR in this connection.

Wishing Thackeray on Monday on his birthday, Tiwari, who has acted in Bhojpuri films, pointed out that over 40 days have passed since the death of Rajput, but an FIR is yet to be registered.

"Many happy returns of the Day @CMOMaharashtra Shri Uddhav Ji, on this day I request with folded hands to give justice to Sushant who died 43 days ago, but no FIR has been registered so far. I hope you will help. Please do justice to millions of SSR fans," he tweeted.

Bollywood actor Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14, which the police said was a case of suicide. His death had triggered an outcry from several quarters alleging that the late actor, who hailed from Bihar, was a victim of nepotism in the film industry.

The lawmaker from Northeast Delhi's Lok Sabha seat, who visited the deceased actor's family in Patna last month had then said: "Sushant's father and sister requested me to take up the issue and get him justice. It was really a sentimental moment for me".

Previously, Tiwari had demanded a CBI investigation into the matter

According to the police, statements of 40 people including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra and actor Rhea Chakraborty have been recorded in the investigation so far.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Mumbai, Apr 8: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has started the process of transferring funds into the accounts of daily wage workers of the film industry, the Federation of Western Indian Cine Employees (FWICE) said on Wednesday.

The actor had recently pledged to financially support 25,000 daily wage workers who have been badly hit by the 21-day lockdown to contain the coronavirus spread in the country.

According to B N Tiwari, FWICE, President, Salman has made an initial payment of Rs 3,000 each to the daily wage workers of the film industry, starting Tuesday.

"We had given him the final list of 23,000 workers so far, who were in dire need of financial help. He is going to transfer money in installments as he doesn't want people to misuse it. He has transferred about Rs 3,000 to every worker yesterday and he will transfer money again after some time. We are thankful to him for helping our workers," Tiwari told PTI.

A source close to Salman said the superstar will continue to support the workers until the situation improves in the country.

"We have started the process from Tuesday. We will be giving sufficient money to workers monthly, we will also give money next month and if the situation is still the same, we will continue to financially help the workers till it doesn't return to normalcy," the source said.

FWICE said Yash Raj Films have also provided a financial help of Rs 5,000 to around 3,000 workers.

"Besides Salman, a lot of people from Bollywood have come forward to help the workers, including Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty, who have given Rs 51 lakh each. Boney Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor too have given money and there are few more who have offered financial assistance to the federation. We also received Rs 1.5 crore from the Producers Guild of India on Tuesday.

"The federation has received a total amount of Rs 3 crore from film industry people. We are yet to receive money from Netflix, which they had announced for daily wage earners and also from Amitabh Bachchan, who is going to provide ration to one lakh workers. He is going to provide coupons which we should receive in a day or two," Tiwari said.

He further said Bachchan's ration coupon for workers will also be given to other associations across the country, such as in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Karnataka.

Tiwari said FWICE is in the process of making another list of needy workers and then they will begin the process of transferring money.

"The Rs 3 crore that the federation has received will be distributed among our five lakh workers in Maharashtra. We will start sending money from April 14 in phases. Those who haven't received any financial aid will be helped first. We are in the process of making a list of such workers for the same," Tiwari said.

"FWICE has also begun distributing ration to workers in suburban Andheri and Jogeshwari. So far we have distributed 5,000 packets of ration and we will give more, he added.

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