When Shah Rukh Khan refused to speak in Marathi at a MNS dahi handi event

For a party that indulges in petty language politics, MNS was left red-faced at an event yesterday when superstar Shah Rukh Khan didn’t speak in Marathi in spite of a vociferous request from the local crowd. Here is a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Shah Rukh Khan was invited as a chief guest by MNS strongman Ram Kadam at his dahi-handi event in Ghatkopar yesterday. Expectedly, the crowd went berserk on seeing their matinee icon standing before them in flesh and blood. And Shah Rukh was in his elements too. He enthralled the locals with his now-popular lungi dance and also mouthed off a few dialogues from his popular movies like Jab Tak Hain Jaan, Don and Devdas. Towards the fag end of his 15-minute appearance on stage, when the star was speaking in Hindi about the dangers concerned with the event, the crowd suddenly roared in unison asking him to talk in Marathi. Taken aback and finding himself cornered, SRK wittily threw the gauntlet to the portly Ram Kadam and loudly announced to the locals that their favourite leader would act as his ‘translator’ and translate each and every Hindi word of his into Marathi. Shah Rukh then spoke about women’s rights and how our mothers, wives and sisters should be cared and respected. Ram Kadam, for some inexplicable reason, fumbled while trying to translate it into Marathi. Perhaps, the enormity of the situation got onto him. But as a saving grace, he finally got the actor to say ‘Jai Maharashtra.’ In the meanwhile, Shah Rukh while self-promoting himself conveniently forgot to wish the crowd ‘A Happy Janmashtami,’ and did so only when his attention was drawn towards it by a lady standing behind him on stage who furtively whispered the words into his ears. Unfortunately, the entire thing was caught on camera. We really wonder what Raj Thackeray, the self-proclaimed messiah of the Marathi manoos has to say about this gaffe. And yes, Shah Rukh did admit that the only Marathi word he knows is ‘ gatirodhak pude aahe.’