'Who is SRK' to 'Shri SRK' in hours; Assam CM's dramatic about-face

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma, who asked who Shah Rukh Khan was, did an about-face hours later. He claimed on Twitter that "Shri @iamsrk" called him in the middle of the night, and when related his concerns on the untoward incidents on the release of his movie "Pathaan", the CM assured him of steps to restrict them, The Indian Express reported.

On Friday, activists from the right-wing organization, Bajrang Dal, had gathered before the Gold Digital Cinema where Pathaan is scheduled to be screened. The activists vandalized the movie posters and shouted "Jai Shri Ram", the footage suggested.

Further, the Vishwa Hindu Parshad had said that the Bajrang Dal protests were in the interests of Hindu right-wing groups. Their stand is clear that actor Khan should apologize to Hindu society and make necessary corrections to the movie, or it will not be allowed to be released, the right-wing outfit's national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said.

On Saturday, when reporters asked about right-wing threats, Himanta Sarma said that he didn't know what "this Pathaan-Wathaan is." He said that he had no idea what it was or who Shah Rukh Khan was, and he suggested that there are "so many Shah Rukh Khans here", and one should not worry about such petty issues.

But on Sunday, he tweeted, "Bollywood actor Shri @iamsrk called me, and we talked today morning at 2 am. He expressed concern about an incident in Guwahati during the screening of his film. I assured him that it's the duty of the state govt to maintain law & order. We'll enquire and ensure no such untoward incidents."

The tweet had a totally different tone.