Indian Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was stabbed Thursday morning during a fight with an intruder at his home and underwent surgery at a hospital, media reported.
The 54-year-old actor was taken to hospital from his home in Mumbai, the country’s financial and entertainment capital, where he lives with his film star wife, Kareena Kapoor, and two sons.
Two of the six wounds were deep, including one near the spine, the Press Trust of India news agency cited a doctor at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital as saying.
Indian media quoted police as saying the intruder broke into the house around 2:30 a.m. local time and fled after stabbing Khan. A female employee at Khan’s home was also injured in the attack and was being treated, they said.
Police are investigating and have launched a search for the attacker.
Posting on Instagram, Kapoor said that while the family appreciated the outpouring of support, they asked for privacy. The constant media coverage and paparazzi attention, she wrote, was “not only overwhelming, but also posed a significant risk to society.” [their] security.”
Among the country’s most bankable stars, Khan is the son of former Indian cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore. His daughter from a previous marriage, Sara, is also a Bollywood actress.
“We use the term ‘film royalty’ quite easily. It’s real royalty,” Asim Burney, host of Khandaan — A Bollywood Podcasttold CBC News. He was referring to Khan’s ceremonial role as Nawab of Pataudi, a royal title taken from his family’s history as governor. Khan inherited the title – and a palace – after his father’s death in 2011.
Associated with Kapoor’s family – part of the metaphorical clique of “film royalty” who Burney says have been a part of Indian cinema for around 100 years – they became one of Bollywood’s most famous couples.
Indian cinema lover
But Khan’s passion for his craft and its international reach also played a big role in his fame, Burney said.
Khan, who is also a film producer, has acted in around 70 films and television series, including English-language roles. He has starred in several notable films and series, including Sacred games – Netflix’s first Indian production – released in 2018.
He has won several awards for his roles in Hindi cinema, including seven Filmfare Awards. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honor.
This combination of factors – their fame, their safety and their beloved reputation – has triggered intense speculation and concern in Mumbai and the Bollywood community.
Emaan Khan, a Toronto-based Bollywood critic, said the couple enjoys considerable security given their fame. They are also often considered the sweethearts of the Indian film industry: so well-known and highly regarded that the couple’s two young sons are already mini-celebrities in their own right, garnering widespread attention and adulation despite not being have ever played.
According to her, the question of why and how an attacker would enter the family home is at the heart of the media buzz.
“In general, Bollywood is very popular and so is cricket in India. There is no reason to attack people who are trying to entertain,” Khan said.
“It’s rare and that’s why it sends shockwaves… Everyone starts thinking, ‘How did this happen to someone who is so safe?’
After the attack, film stars and opposition leaders called on police to step up security measures in the city.
“If such high-profile people with security can be attacked in their homes, what could happen to ordinary citizens?” Clyde Crasto, spokesman for the Nationalist Congress Party, asked the question about X.
Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt also called for a greater police presence in the suburb where the attack took place, where many actors in the film industry are located.
“The city, and especially the queen of the suburbs, has never felt so unsafe before,” she said on X, using a popular description of the trendy Bandra district.
Bollywood Celebrity and Privacy Concerns
Mohit Rajhans, a Toronto-based writer and broadcaster who has met Khan in the past, told CBC News that the attack is sparking a broader conversation around the intense social media scrutiny that surrounds Bollywood stars.
These performers, he says, are at the center of “paparazzi culture,” in which support often results in fans gathering around stars’ homes and – in some cases – physically fighting their security guards to get closer. of them and their families.
“If you’re familiar with today’s Bollywood celebrity culture, you’ll start to realize that there has been a huge amount of privacy that these stars have had to sacrifice because of media culture,” he said. said, emphasizing that things as personal as their flight details and daily movements are tracked and recorded.
“A lot of these stars, whether they’re leaving a restaurant or just on vacation, are starting to see their lives translate online 24/7. And that could pose a security issue,” Rajhans said.
