Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan’s ‘the Da-Bangg Tour to Nepal’, which was scheduled to take place in Kathmandu on March 10, has been called off citing threat from a section led by Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’, according to the organisers.
Other Bollywood stars such as Sonakshi Sinha, Kriti Sanon, Prabhudheva, Daisy Shah, Meet Bros and Maniesh Paul were scheduled to join Salman at Tundikhel, Kathmandu.
The organisers Sohail Khan Entertainments and JA Events and the partner organiser from Nepal, ODC Entertainment on January 19 had jointly organised a press conference in Kathmandu to confirm Khan’s arrival.
However, Netra Bikram Chand ‘Biplav’ of the CPN-Maoist, a splinter of CPN (Maoist Centre) last week had demanded cancellation of the show and called all the nationalist forces to unite and oppose against the even saying it amounts to ‘expansion of cultural intervention on Nepali soil’.
Some top Nepalese artists and 110 other singers and dancers from Bollywood were also expected to be part of the show. An audience of 30,000 was expected to attend the show while the tickets were priced from Rs 3,000 to 30,000. The cost of the show was reported to mount Rs 50 million.
The tour, which kicked off last year, has already entertained several cities around the world, including Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, London and Birmingham.
The organisers in Kathmandu said: “The show is just postponed for further dates and going to reschedule it very soon.”
The CPN-Maoist also attacked the sponsors of the show, most of them liquor brands. “In a way, the programme is also promoting liquor which is not acceptable to us. We are against all kinds of globalisation bids,” the statement said.