Shah Rukh Khan does have a sense of humour. Or does he?
The Bollywood superstar is joking about sneaking into Mumbai’s Wankhede cricket stadium – in disguise – for tonight’s Indian Premier League (IPL) game between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Why?
The 47 year old has been banned by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), who owns the stadium, after he picked up a fight with security personnel during an IPL game there last year.
Shah Rukh, whose Red Chillies Entertainment company owns a little over 50 per cent stake in the Knight Riders, lost his temper when he saw guards allegedly push a group of children he had brought to the stadium.
Shah Rukh’s behaviour angered the MCA who promptly banned him from entering the premises for five years.
The actor, though, is known to love a good fight and has taken on various establishments before.
“I don’t want to sound politically incorrect, but what will they do if I enter the stadium? Shoot me?” he told the media on Monday.
Rhetorical question, but will the MCA take his threat seriously even if it was presented as a joke? They will be extra cautious, for sure.
Shah Rukh may have been raised in Delhi and he may own a cricket team from Kolkata, but he lives in Mumbai.
He is loved by most Mumbaikars and is considered more of an insider than most of the Mumbai Indians players and coaching staff. There will be a fair number of supporters at the stadium hoping for his presence – whether overt or covert.
So when that ‘KKR’ team bus wheels into the parking lot any moment, there will have been a mad clamour.
That itself should give the security personnel a headache.