Salman Khan's got a new date

Salman Khan

After being granted bail on April 7 in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, Salman Khan has dived headlong into work. While he resumes the shoot of Race 3 later this week, there has been progress on the Nepal leg of his Da-Bangg Tour. A month after it was cancelled by the Maoist party of Nepal, it has been learnt that Khan's gig has now been rescheduled for May 26 at Tundikhel Ground in Kathmandu.

It may be recalled that the show - then slated for March 10 - was put off after a group led by the Netra Bikram Chand 'Biplav' demanded its cancellation stating that such tours amount to "Indian cultural intervention".

A source informs that the organisers, Sohail Khan Entertainment, and Kathmandu's ODC Entertainment, have been in talks with the political party over the past month and have finally convinced them to greenlight the show. "One of the issues was the venue, the Army Pavilion in Tundhikhel. The party members' grouse was that the ground was being given out for a Bollywood event when it has never been given to political parties for their meetings. Over the last few weeks, the members were told that a show of this scale would benefit the country in the long run. It will create employment opportunities for locals, as this show's success would pave the way for more gigs by other international artistes. They were also told of how it will also give the country's tourism a major boost," says the source.

While Sonakshi Sinha, Prabhudheva, Kriti Sanon and Daisy Shah were part of the original show, a change in the line-up is possible. "Since there was a delay, the actors have allotted their dates to other commitments. New additions might be made to the existing list of performers. An official announcement will be made in a week's time."

The local organising team has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of beefing up security for the artistes. "Since a threat was issued against Salman Khan, ODC is in talks with Kathmandu police for foolproof security. Given that a crowd of 30,000 to 35,000 is expected, the arrangements for crowd management have to be made accordingly."

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