Saif Ali Khan says 'I was hit, defended myself' - Granted bail in assault case
Mumbai: The surge of cameras and the crowd that had gathered for a glimpse of Saif Ali Khan made it almost impossible to get a good look at the actor as he arrived at the Colaba police station at 8 pm this evening. Girlfriend and co-star Kareena Kapoor accompanied him. 90 minutes later, the actor left after having paid Rs. 15,000 and being granted bail. At around 7:50 pm, Saif was arrested by the police at his lawyer's office based on a complaint by a man named Iqbal Sharma, who says Saif broke his nose in a fight on Wednesday night. Mr Sharma, a businessman from South Africa, says he was seated at the table next to Saif and Kareena at Wasabi, the uber-fancy restaurant at the Taj hotel in Colaba. The actors had other Bollywood friends with them - Kareena's sister Karisma Kapoor; actor Amrita Arora and her husband, Shakeel Ladak; and Bilal Amrohi, a producer.
Saif says Mr Sharma was rude to the women at his table and that when Saif intervened, Mr Sharma threw the first punch. "I was hit and I defended myself," he said in a press statement this evening. He adds, "I don't think any gentleman would have behaved differently." (Full text of Saif's statement to the police)
Not quite, says Mr Sharma. In his version of events, he sent a note to Saif's table, asking his group to talk a little softer. "They were making a lot of noise. And we asked the management to ask them to be quiet so that we could also enjoy our evening. This failed on about three occasions at least." Mr Sharma says his family and he decided to leave the restaurant; on their way out, they ran into Saif who had left Wasabi and was on his way back in. At this point, Mr Sharma says, Saif struck. (Watch: The man whose nose Saif allegedly fractured)
The Mumbai Police say that security cameras at the staircase of the restaurant where the incident occurred did not capture the fight.
Saif's home production, Agent Vinod, releases on March 23. It co-stars Kareena.
