Fans flock to see Salman Khan

Fareed Rahman joins the hysteria at Salman Khan's Dubai premiere

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan sparked a frenzy in Dubai yesterday when he arrived for the premiere of his latest movie 'Ready'.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Grand Cineplex near Wafi as the 46-year-old actor greeted journalists and fans a few hours before the big night was due to start.

And even though Khan turned up an hour and a half late, the crowd still clapped and whistled as he stepped onto a platform to greet wellwishers.

One fan even asked him to marry her - to which he teasingly answered "of course sweetheart".

And when asked when he was going to marry for real, Khan retorted back by saying he does not know, and it is something that he ponders every day. He even joked with reporters: "I think you would know about my marriage before I did."

Khan, 46, has been linked with a number of actresses, including his present co-star Asin. He has also been linked to Katrina Kaif and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, as well as San­geeta Bijalani and Somy Ali.

Wearing a light blue shirt, the actor spoke at length about his latest film, which is set to open in theatres across the UAE today.

He said: "'Ready' is a situational comedy, a family comedy. There is no vulgarity."

His last film 'Dabangg', which was partly shot in the UAE, broke box office records and became one of the biggest hits of last year. It also won India's National Award.

Khan, fresh from that success, said he really had a blast shooting his latest film - hopefully another big hit: "It is really a fine film. We couldn't stop laughing in between takes, which was really good," Khan added. About his co-star, he said: "Asin is a very competitive actress and very good."

However sadly, she could not make it to the UAE premiere as she had problems with her passport so could not fly.

Despite the comedy he was promoting, Khan was not all smiles as he talked about the plague of film piracy, saying that rip-offs were costing the industry dearly.

"We are losing twice the amount of our revenue. Piracy is a multi-billion dollar industry. People are doing it to earn extra bucks. We are against it," he said, adding that a screening of 'Ready' for the crew had to be cancelled over fears of piracy.

Khan also spoke about his charitable organisation, 'Being Human'.

He said that he was going to organise special screenings of his latest film for kids with special needs and under privileged children in Mumbai.

"We are expecting the film to be shown to 2,500 to 3,000 children. It feels good," he said. The star added that he also plans to donate part of his earnings to film industry workers.

"A small percentage of my earnings will go to the workers. It is part of my 'Being Human' campaign," Khan added.

And when asked if he would ever appear in a film shot by the regional Malayalam industry in Kerala, Khan said certainly -  if it meant he  could work with the famous Mammootty, who regularly stars in Malayalam films.

'Ready' also stars Dubai-based model Kubra Sait, who started her career as a baker and went onto act in films like 'City of Life'.

Sait was also due to attend last night's premiere.

fareed.rahman@7days.ae