Prem acquittal dhan se payo, Salman Khan’s iconic screen name was trending on Twitter minutes after the High Court allowed him to walk free as the prosecution failed to establish its case against him.

The actor had been accused of killing a man sleeping on a footpath and injuring four others with his SUV in 2002. One of the men lost his foot, but Salman was hardly ‘Being Human’ when he decided not to stop and help.

Salman had reportedly been drinking that night but it seems the prosecution failed to convince the judge that Salman’s cup was all full and not with water. In India, where not a lot surprises us, the Twitterati wanted an important answer:

If neither Salman nor his driver is guilty then was “the car drunk”?

The real badshah

I am not a big Bollywood fan; the Khans and their break-ups and patch-ups don’t make a difference even in my daily reading. I don’t watch too many movies, yet, I became a Salman Khan fan.

For most of our generation, Maine Pyar Kiya was a cult film. We were in school and fell in love with a thin scrawny long-haired boy who spoke more to a kabootar in the movie than to his love interest.

Years later, despite still not having watched a Dabangg or a Bajrangi Bhaijaan, I knew Salman was Bollywood’s real badshah.

I do watch him host the reality show Bigg Boss, mostly because he is unpredictable but unpretentious and, unlike other stars, never hides his controversies. He talks of his court cases just as openly as he mentions his ex-girlfriend Katrina Kaif. In fact, he is so real, he can’t even hide a bad mood or a hangover and perhaps that is why no one has been able to ask the real Salman to please stand up.

All these years, he was still the man who generously donated more than half his box office earnings to charities and who celebrated Eid just as enthusiastically as Diwali.

A friend, an industry insider, once told me, “Bhai ko kuch nahi hoga, he has the blessings of too many people.”

Karma?

Salman’s ‘Being Human’ charity is well-known but in hindsight, was that love for humanity an antidote to the accident?

Some say, it was his father Salim Khan’s brainchild to clean up his son’s image. Irrespective, good work brings goodwill, so he carried on delivering hit after hit, year after year, all the while waving to hysterical fans from his balcony.

A decade, 13 years to be precise, is such a long time that many things lose their impact.

As did his case, during which, Salman carried on, almost like a mini-industry within Bollywood, with more than 500 crores worth of business around him.

Although Salman has been declared innocent, many Indians, like myself, believe he is guilty. That he got off scot-free because of star power. And, we know that that is often the case.

It is also ironical that one of Salman’s closest friends is actor Sanjay Dutt, who although serving a jail term, has been pictured more at home than inside a prison room. Now, his good behaviour, a euphemism I believe for star stature, is helping him get released more than three years before the end of his term; drama is not just in the reel.

In India, perhaps just like in Pakistan, governments can change but court cases still have a life of their own. Witnesses die, Witnesses become ‘unreliable’, documents go missing and as happened earlier in Salman’s case, a faithful (or bought out?) driver takes the blame.

And now, it seems even the driver wasn’t in the driving seat. A bewildered public is wondering ‘if India had a driverless car much before Google’s plans to invent one’?

Also read: The accused is famous...

It is not unusual for even the ordinary man to underestimate the influence of alcohol, especially in the recklessness of youth. I don’t doubt that some of the loudest voices against Salman right now are those who drive back home equally inebriated every Saturday night.

But if you know you have killed, then you must also stand up and take the blame. We are being naïve if we hope that at least the influential among us will admit their mistake and repent. But then, who doesn’t pull out all contacts when in trouble? Yet, some are more equal than others.

The day though was not over. Bollywood director Subhash Ghai did what no one has been able to do, stump social media. “The case had an impact on his personal life. He could have married at 34. Now he is 50.”

And here, we were all still thinking that a man had died.

Also read: Salman may be a free man now, but is he still a hero?

As Salman walks away with his legion of fans going berserk and also leaving five families to wonder if this was karma, I try to figure out where I stand because many people have money but only a few are generous (even if he does that to atone), yet much like the enigma he is, I have no answers.

All I know is, if he had gone to jail, I would have respected him.

No one will now be surprised if he is also acquitted in the other case, the killing of the endangered black buck. “Did the Black Buck also commit suicide,” asks a sarcastic India.

While I am not questioning Salman Khan’s ruling, I am severely disappointed. But then, I wonder, will the actor actually ever be free? Guilt can be a terrible burden, and maybe, that will be the punishment.