Police stop Shah Rukh Khan from carrying gun into Thackeray party

Suparn Verma in Delhi

Shah Rukh Khan doesn't usually go to Bollywood parties. But last Saturday he decided to attend the mahurat of producer Firoz Nadiadwala's Raftaar. Present that evening with many Hindi movie stars were Hollywood star Steven Seagal, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Maharashtra Chief Minister Manohar Joshi.

When Shah Rukh arrived for the mahurat, he was stopped by policemen as soon as he passed the metal detectors. The police officers discovered that Khan was carrying a Walther pistol on him. Under normal circumstances the police may have let Khan carry his weapon -- some stars carry licensed guns for their protection -- but Saturday evening was different.

With Thackeray and Joshi both in attendance -- both men are in the high-security category -- no policeman was willing to let Khan go in without the actor depositing his revolver.

The policemen also seemed unwilling to listen to Shah Rukh's explanations. One constable asked the reigning Bollywood star, "Who is Shah Rukh Khan?" Shah Rukh showed the policemen the license for his pistol. Satisfied that it was in order, the policemen asked the actor to deposit his gun at the door. Only then was he let inside the Regal Room at Bombay's Oberoi Towers where the party was being held.

Khan was fuming, but decided not to make his displeasure known and sat down quietly at Sanjay Dutt's table.

A little later, Khan's anger was aroused again. When no one introduced him to Seagal Khan went up to the Hollywood machoman and did the honours, but felt that Seagal had snubbed him by treating him as he would another fan.

Early on Friday morning, when the star was shooting an all-night schedule for Firoz Nadiadwala's Duplicate near the Rediff On The NeT office, the star finally went ballistic. He turned on producer Nadiadwala, and told him where he could get off. Finally, Khan, who has a reputation for being something of a hothead in Bollywood, cooled off only when director Mahesh Bhatt enforced the peace.

The pistol, we understand, was returned to Shah Rukh after the party.