Salman Khan - “I think what Shah Rukh said was that the Pakistani players should have been included in the IPL. If I’m not mistaken even our Home Minister P Chidambaram said the same thing. Sports and politics are two different things. In cricket, the only thing you hit is a ball. A sporting field is all about sportsmanship, sports is such a wonderful leveler that both winners and losers shake hands in the beginning as well as at the end of the match.”

When Asked why he was backing his “friend-turned-foe”, Salman said, “That’s because Shah Rukh hasn’t said anything wrong. What should he apologize for? My Name Is Khan should be released for sure. It has to. As an industry we pay huge entertainment tax to the government and we entertain the people also. We don’t think like politicians. I anyway don’t understand this whole thing of taking a morcha and going to somebody’s house.”

(The Shiv Sena has been vandalising posters and hoardings of MNIK, warning theatre-owners not to screen the film, and tried to go to SRK’s home with a symbolic ‘ticket to Pakistan’ for him.)

SRK, Salman said, needs the support of his fans.

“Where are Shah Rukh’s fans? They should stand up and come out in hoards to show their support for their hero. And why take out your anger on a film? It’s not just Shah Rukh’s film. It’s the producer’s film, the distributor’s film, the other actors, what wrong have they done? And any which way, at the end of the day, a film belongs to the people who see it, who wait for it so in a way you are depriving them of what they enjoy. If you have a problem with SRK, talk it with him. Don’t take it out on the film.”