Shaad Ali cheers for Salman Khan

Shaad is in Mumbai for a few days. Last week on Wednesday he stormed a suburban theatre in Mumbai with 14 of his friends to feast on Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif’s Ek Tha Tiger. The scene at the Chandan Cinema in Juhu on Wednesday evening when Ek Tha Tiger released, was pretty riotous, what with director Shaad Ali, his pal actor Ranveer Singh and Ranveer’s new pal Deepika Padukone along with 13 other self-proclaimed fans of Salman Khan clapped and cheered so hard at that they could be heard all the way to the front and back seats of the theatre. Recalls Shaad, “It was crazy. There were 15 of us, all fans of Salman at Chandan. We had gone in the mood to celebrate and cheer for Salman. We were behaving like hardcore fans, because that’s exactly what we are. I simply loved the film, and Salman. I’ve been a Salman Khan fan forever. And having been closely associated with Yashraj Films years I was waiting for Salman to work with Yashraj. When it finally happened I was naturally agog.” Shaad also met Deepika Padukone for the first time. She had accompanied Ranveer to see Tiger. Deepika is being seen in Ranveer Singh’s company these days because they are working together in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ram Leela. About the rumours linking Deepika to Ranveer, a source close to Yashraj observes, “It isn’t coincidental that Ranveer gets linked with every heroine he works with. After the never-ending Anushka Sharma rumours we heard stories of Ranveer and Sonakshi when they were shooting Lootera together. Now when he’s paired with Deepika rumours about them have started. It isn’t as if Ranveer plants stories about these link-ups. But yes, he is a friendly sort of guy. Some of his heroine say he’s over-friendly. That’s a matter of perception. But Ranveer means no harm.”