Actor Govind Namdev slams ‘Kala Hiran’ makers for keeping him in the dark: ‘We were never told that a character resembling Salman Khan…’

It was October 1998, when Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Karisma Kapoor, and all the other actors were shooting for Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. And that was the time when the Wanted actor was embroiled in a legal soup after accusations being made of killing a blackbuck. Khan denied the allegations in court.

A film on the controversial incident

There’s a film called Kala Hiran which was announced and the poster went viral on social media. Amid the announcement, actor Govind Namdev, who is also a part of the film, has slammed the makers for keeping him in the dark.

Speaking to Amar Ujala,
Govind Namdev revealed, “As soon as I watched the trailer, I was shaken to the core. I instantly understood that the project is completely different from what I had shot for. We were never told that a character resembling Salman Khan would be created and portrayed in this manner. The moment I saw the trailer, I felt I had been kept in the dark and used. There is a world of difference between what I was told and what has actually been made.”

The actor added, “I was told we were making a film called Sambhal. At that time, I had absolutely no idea that the story would later take a completely different direction.”

Namdev, who has shared screen space with Khan in films like Garv and Wanted, also revealed, “I was informed that there was a long courtroom sequence and that was all I had to do. It was also mentioned that nothing new was being added from our side and that we were merely presenting what had happened in court. I felt there was nothing wrong in depicting facts already on record, which is why I agreed to be part of it.”

When Salman Khan was convicted in the case

A Jodhpur-based trial court held Salman Khan guilty in the 1998 blackbuck case in 2018 while acquitting others in the case.

The actor had been sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs 10,000. The court had 
reserved its judgment on 28 March after the hearing of the final arguments. In October 1998, five actors of the movie Hum Saath Saath Hain were named as accused in a police complaint by a local Bishnoi community.

During the shooting of the movie, Salman Khan allegedly went on a shooting expedition along with co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Sonali Bendre and Tabu, killing two blackbucks in the Kankani village of Jodhpur. The actors were booked under the Wildlife Protection Act which prohibits the hunting of blackbucks.