He is riding high on the success of his recent mega hit, Partner, but by a strange twist of fate Salman Khan’s isn’t a very busy actor these days. If he is put behind bars for skipping a judicial hearing and evading arrest in the 1998 Chinkara hunting case, the Hindi film industry does not stand to lose much.Khan’s arrest, if it happens and is non-bailable, will not be an astronomical monetary loss for the industry. He doesn’t have too many unfinished projects.“The decision has shaken us emotionally, but professionally we won’t be at a loss since my projects with him are yet to go on the floor,” said David Dhawan, director of Partner, who has announced Tom & Jerry with Khan and Govinda, and a remake of Manmohan Desai’s 1977 hit, Amar Akbar Anthony, with Khan and his brothers Sohail and Arbaaz. Khan’s next release, Rumi Jaffery’s God Tussi Great Ho, is almost complete. He is also through with friend and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s awaited Saawariya, where he plays an important role with Rani Mukerji. “My film is complete. I won’t be losing money if he lands up in jail,” said Jaffery.“Saawariya is currently in its post-production stage,” said a unit member, on condition of anonymity. “Salman won’t be required to dub since the film was shot in sync sound. His loss will not be felt immediately, but he will be missed during the film’s promotion.”The 41-year-old actor is in the middle of shooting for Boney Kapoor’s Hindi remake of the Telugu moneymaker Pokhri — also actor-dancer Prabhudeva’s directorial debut — for which he was in Hyderabad. “The first installment of shooting will finish on August 30. Khan has shot for about 20 days. About 30 per cent of the shooting is over and at present we plan to continue with the portions that don’t feature him,” said Shyam Sundar from Kapoor’s unit.Post Partner, his first hit after a gap of two years, Khan was on a professional roll with filmmakers queuing up to sign him on. Filming is yet to commence on Subhash Ghai’s Yuvraj, which has the actor in the lead role.The unit is currently busy with pre-production work. Filmmaker Samir Karnik has announced multi-starrer Mera Bharat Mahan, with Khan, his brother Sohail, Preity Zinta, Sunny and Bobby Deol. Shooting for the film will, however, not commence before the year-end. “Currently, there’s just about Rs 30-40 crore depending on Salman Khan,” said trade analyst Komal Nahata.
