Tarina Patel, wife of South African based entrepreneur Iqbal Sharma, who was allegedly punched in the nose by actor Saif Ali Khan, has decided to hit back at Kareena Kapoor who said that her boyfriend was innocent and provoked to a fight. Tarina who is also a model and Bollywood actress with roles in movies like Dhol, Bhool Bhulaiya and Chase, said; “Now the matter is in the hands of the lawyers. I want justice to be done, no matter what it takes. Saif has gone on television to apologize. That isn’t the same as apologizing to my father and husband. He claims to be apologetic and yet the ladies are slandering me.”
Kareena Kapoor, who had remained quiet for a couple of days after the incident, finally talked to the media and criticized Iqbal and his wife for taking publicity at their expense. She said, “Saif was provoked. He’s a thorough gentleman and would never get into a brawl, especially with women around. We were having dinner at Wasabi (a restaurant in Mumbai) when Iqbal stormed into our corner and started screaming at us. The only people present at that time were Sharma’s group and ours. We were laughing and talking, but certainly not screaming! There was no reason for this man to come to our table and shout at Saif. Even so, Saif said sorry but he continued to rant.”
Kareena added, “Now he’s saying he didn’t know that there were actors present at the table. But his wife Tarina (who has acted in ‘Dhol’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyya’) and Malaika had greeted each other just a little while before! The funny thing is when Tarina saw her husband making a scene; instead of stopping him she got into the lift and ran away! Saif is also hurt; his eye is swollen. We were witness to what happened and this is a sure case of Saif being targeted because of his celebrity status. It’s disgusting. And how come Iqbal is able to give media throughout the day despite having a broken nose?”
When all of this was told to Tarina Patel, she shot back, “First of all, let me tell you my husband is not some star-struck foreigner in India. He comes from the biggest political family in South Africa. He is Fatima Meer’s nephew. His family was instrumental in getting Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa. My husband is a truly peace-loving person. His uncle and Nelson Mandela were best friends. My husband has a great deal of business in Mumbai. As you may know India and South Africa have great trade relations and my husband is a pivotal part of it.”
Tarina added, “What does she mean by my husband giving interviews in spite of a broken nose? My husband talks through his mouth, not thorough his nose. We didn’t even ask them to lower the volume, we just asked the management to do so. We were on the way down and waiting for the lift when this happened. Saif was on the way up. This was certainly not normal behavior. He told us to f**k off to a library if we wanted peace. Frankly my husband was more stunned than me. I’ve known this film industry because I work here. My husband is clueless about the ways of Bollywood actors. He didn’t know who Saif or Kareena are. Why should he? He knows who Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan is. Beyond that my husband or the rest of my family doesn’t know the industry and they don’t care.”
Tarina pointed out, “Saif got offended for this and even hit my father. My father is a gentle doctor. He saves lives. How would your daughter react if she saw you hit? I am hurt beyond reason by what happened. And to now have Kareena say I’m doing this for publicity, this is so sick. The ladies with that person (Saif) have said I didn’t intervene. I am sorry we have not been brought up to deal with public brawls. What baffles me is if Saif was so innocent, why did he run away? This just shows the caliber of these people.”