I was extremely happy to have Irfan Pathan as my guest on the show along with my old pal Shilpa Shetty. What struck me most is that time has not made a dent on the evergreen Shilpa. She is remarkably well maintained and as effervescent as always. Irfan Pathan is casual and unassuming and it was a pleasure to interact with him. He did not wear any protective guards while answering personal questions such as his love interest and intention of marrying her soon. I believe that there is some resistance in his orthodox family because of religion. My father acted in a film called ‘Shershah Suri’. He told me that when Rani Karmavati of Chittorgarh was surrounded by enemies she asked her rakhi-brother, the Mughal emperor Humayun to defend her and he did so at the loss of his own kingdom. We have such a great heritage of love and brother-hood; I do not know how our times have been so polluted with inter-religion hatred.


Irfan displayed honesty and is so typical of our modern youth that they are casual yet straight-forward. Shilpa Shetty does not belong to this generation, yet she’s a very honest and down to earth girl too. I have known Shilpa and family for long. Her struggle has been long and now she has attained stardom due to her show being such a hit in London. Her good friend has gifted her a share in the Rajasthan Royals IPL team for which Irfan’s brother Yusuf plays. The Pathan brothers are amazing players.

My father Salim Khan and brother Arbaaz love cricket and are really passionate about it. They are friendly with a lot of international cricketers. As a matter of fact, my father played a lot of cricket in his college days and at one time even dreamed of making a career in cricket.
Dad played in Indore and the Holkar cricket team played gloriously for decades. India’s first captain Col. C.K. Naidu belonged to the Holkar team and Captain Mushtaq Ali played in the one-day game fashion long before this format was invented. My father is fortunate that he had the opportunity to watch Col. Naidu and Captain Mushtaq Ali in action. Once he caught a massive hit by Col. Naidu. But while watching Mushtaq Ali play, he realized that he could never play like that so he opted for another career. Arbaaz is familiar also with several county cricket players. He had flown to London to watch the T20 finals recently held in England.

Rains have been alluding Mumbai for a long time, 7th June onwards has been the period for monsoon to break in but this year’s extended, summer has been very tough, during this dry monsoon, it rained only through eyes of farmers. My brother Sohail Khan has made a film on problems of farmers. His “KISAN” is a dramatic entertainer with strong social message. The forces of bazaar want farmers to sell their land for industrialization. The entire conspiracy is so carefully hatched that brothers are divided so that they sell the land. Its new face of slavery. However rains lend mystique beauty to Mumbai. Sea rises to salute rain soaked Mumbai. Monsoon is added tourist attraction to the city.It would be an experience to drive on newly inaugurated sea link during rains. Marine Drive – the queen’s necklace becomes divinely beautiful during this season. The other side of monsoon is rather troublesome for the poor people whose homes are flooded. Daily wages earners go without food. Shoe shine boys go out of job.Memories of 26/7 are deeply itched in the psyche of Mumbai. This year they have predicted wave rising to dangerous height on 24th July 09. I am sure that the spirit of Mumbai rises above all calamities man made or created by nature.The long term solution to most of our problems is planting of trees in huge numbers.