New Delhi: Talk about adding insult to injury. Not only was Iqbal Meer Sharma's anniversary dinner with actress wife Tareena ruined, the media circus surrounding his high profile brawl with actor Saif Ali Khan was a living nightmare.
Sharma, the South African businessman who accused Khan of assaulting him following an argument inside Mumbai's posh Wasabi restaurant at the Taj Hotel, said he has not seen a film in 20 years and would not have recognised Khan if he walked past him on the street despite having a wife who has worked in several Bollywood projects.
Sharma's comment that he did not know at the time of the confrontation who Khan was, was met with incredulity in the Indian press mainly because his wife Tareena Patel has acted in films such as Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Das Kahaniya and Dhol. He clarified his comment on Friday in a phone interview from South Africa.
"I genuinely did not know," Sharma, who was formerly the Deputy Director General of South Africa’s department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and CEO of Trade & Investment South Africa (TISA), said. He presently serves on the board of Transnet as a non-executive director.
"I haven't seen a Bollywood film properly in 20 years, though I do watch the ones my wife acts in. I am of the generation that liked films of Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. Those are the names that I instantly connect with," he said.
However, had it been Shah Rukh Khan in the table next to his, Sharma would have definitely recognised the star, having met him in South Africa. "I am from an industry that has very little connection with showbiz. I work for 16 hours a day. I do not even know who the girls were at the table with him (Saif)."
Sharma was referring to actress Malaika Arora Khan, her sister Amrita Arora and actress Kareena Kapoor who were with the actor during the incident.
Sharma who has been hailed as "one of South Africa’s most remarkable entrepreneurs" (SA Success Magazine 4/98), said his wife Tareena shuttled between South Africa and India to maintain her career while he lived mostly in SA.
Will the buzz surrounding the incident help or adversely affect Tareena's career?
"It would be really sad to drag her into this," he said, adding that the day after the incident was absolute chaos and he did not even get a chance to talk to Tareena.
He has one message for Khan. "Any public person should behave in a way that is becoming of his stature."
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