NEW DELHI: On April 5, a court in Jodhpur found Bollywood actor Salman Khan guilty of hunting two blackbucks while working on Hum Saath Saath Hain in 1998.
The 52-year-old has been dogged by multiple charges since undertaking the infamous hunting safari in protected forest land while shooting for the film.
The Bishnois, a Rajasthani tribe seen as custodians of the region’s wildlife, filed a complaint against Salman and other actors.
In 2016, Khan was found guilty of killing gazelles on the hunting trip and served a very brief stint in jail but was freed on appeal.
Last year he was also cleared by a court over the alleged use of unlicensed firearms on the expedition. A higher court is challenging his acquittal.
Controversy has followed the Bollywood bad boy since he burst onto the silver screen in the 1980s.
He was cleared in 2015 of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run accident. That decision is now being challenged in the Supreme Court.
Indian courts can often take years—and sometimes decades—to pronounce verdicts.
He was also accused of assaulting a former Miss World and provoked a firestorm in 2016 by saying his workout schedule for a film left him feeling “like a raped woman”.
But the off-screen drama has done little to dampen his appeal.
The actor known as “bhai”, meaning “brother” in Hindi, enjoys a cult-like status with the majority of his devotees’ young men who envy Khan for being unmarried at 52.
He remains one of Bollywood’s biggest draws, starring in more than 100 films and television shows.
According to Forbes, he made $37 million in yearly earnings to finish second behind Shah Rukh Khan in the 2017 Bollywood rankings.
Both the Khans are among the top 10 most highly paid actors in the world.
The Bollywood heartthrob’s latest blockbuster Tiger Zinda Hai (Tiger is alive) collected some $85 million worldwide.
