New Delhi, June 21: Bollywood star Salman Khan waded into fresh trouble today after news reports quoted him as saying that he felt "like a raped woman" after a gruelling shoot for his upcoming film Sultan, where he plays a professional wrestler.
Although the reports suggested that the actor had clarified almost immediately that he shouldn't have made such a comment, the damage was done as social media went into overdrive and the National Commission for Women took cognisance of the "insensitive" remark.
The 50-year-old now faces the possibility of a summons from the women's panel if he doesn't apologise within seven days.
"He has demonstrated the patriarchal mindset that is prevalent in this country - unfortunately, he will get away with it," NCW chairperson Lalitha Kumaramangalam told a television channel.
Asked about his role in Sultan at a media interaction on Saturday to promote the film, Salman is reported to have said: "During those six hours of shooting, there'd be so much of lifting and thrusting on the ground involved. That is the most difficult thing. When I used to walk out of that ring, it used to be like a raped woman walking out."
As some of the journalists sniggered, Khan is said to have clarified: "I don't think that I should have...", with the rest of the words drowned out in the din.
The remark, which initially went unnoticed, sparked outrage on social media with the hashtag #InsensitiveSalman trending for several hours.
"It's our fault that we have given stardom to such a misogynistic idiot!" Reuters quoted Twitter user Neeraj Khandelwal as saying.
The actor's father, Salim Khan, stepped in to cool frayed nerves through a series of tweets. "Undoubtedly what Salman said is wrong, the simile, example and the context. The intention was not wrong. Nevertheless I apologise on behalf of his family his fans & his friends. Forgiveness is to pardon the unpardonable or it is no virtue at all. To err is human to forgive divine. Today on Intl yoga day lets not run our shops on this mistake," the screenwriter said in a tweet.
But social media remained unrelenting, with many questioning why his father had to step in. "Why can't Salman Khan say sorry for his mistake?" was an oft-repeated question.
From the Bollywood crowd, one voice stood out to question the outrage. In a tweet, model-turned-actress Pooja Bedi said: "If @BeingSalmanKhan's intention was 2 use the term rape to describe something that shatters someone physically and emotionally, is it wrong?"
Another person who came out in Salman's defence was director Subhash Ghai. Although Salman made the comments in English, Ghai claimed it was a "mistranslation". Ghai also blamed it on the actor's "poor English".
"It is very disgusting translation by someone. He just said one thing that it is a human agony he went through. The deepest human agony is when a woman is raped. He was talking about a metaphor.
"He is just a child and I know he respects women like anything."
This is not Salman's first brush with controversy. Last year, a Mumbai court overturned the actor's conviction in a 13-year-old hit-and-run case.
In 2007, Salman was jailed for nearly a week for shooting an endangered gazelle on a hunting trip in Rajasthan. He is also out on bail in a case over the killing of protected antelopes.
