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Qaidi No. 210 has no problems
In cell, Salman spent his first night as a prisoner staving off mosquitoes, writes Suresh Vyas. What's your opinion? | Pics
Prisoner No. 210, Barrack No. 230, Jodhpur Central Jail — actor Salman Khan’s new address. From 70 mm silver-screen to a 10x10 ft cell. From dancing in an unbuttoned shirt to chatting about films and jails with a murder convict. The scene is an anti-climax, even for those who had followed Khan’s case.
In the bare cell, with just a bedding and a blanket, Khan — who has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for killing a chinkara — spent his first night as a prisoner staving off mosquitoes. Jail authorities, who had denied him any special treatment, passed him a tube of mosquito repellent along with a kit of toothpaste and brush given by a friend, Shishupal Singh Rajpurohit.
On Tuesday, Khan was woken up at 6 am. A frugal breakfast of roasted gram mixed with jaggery and tea followed. Lunch was no different: rice and dal, the usual jail grub. But no mineral water, the one luxury that he was allowed on his first day in one of the country’s high-security prisons.
His diversion? Chatting with Mahesh Sharma, a lifer in the barrack, on everything from life in movies to life behind the bars. And reading newspapers, possibly with headlines screaming his name. How is he taking it? “I’m well, no problem,” Khan told jail superintendent ML Chouhan.
Chouhan said a routine medical checkup was done on the actor. “He is well,” said Chouhan. While over 100 fans gathered outside the jail, protesting against the judgment, Khan’s brother Sohail and sister Alvira Agnihotri visited him in the afternoon.
Khan is waiting for the next scene: his counsel filing an appeal in the Jodhpur sessions court.
It is ironical, but this real-life role is grittier than any Khan had done onscreen.
