Dancers often sacrifice their bodies and sustain injuries for the sake of their art. And on Sunday night, Salman Yusuff Khan, choreographer-turned-actor learnt this the hard way when he hurt himself after he fell from a height of 20 feet while performing a stunt at the Big Star Entertainment Awards.
Salman, the winner of the debut season of Dance India Dance, now playing the lead in Remo D'Souza's upcoming movie ABCD was supposed to jump off from a wooden plank 20-ft high and join his director and Prabhu Deva onstage for the act.
However, his stunt went awry when the wooden plank he was standing on broke and he fell from the height sustaining injuries to his leg and ribs.
During rehearsals in the afternoon, Salman had brought it to the notice of the event managers that the wooden plank was weak and needed to be replaced.
According to a source, `Salman had done a lot of rehearsals and was confident about it. So, when the act started at 9.15 pm, he went up and was ready to jump on the dead mat. But the plank broke and he had to be rushed to Kokilaben hospital. Other celebrities including Salman Khan helped him to the ambulance.`
Salman's spokesperson Prateek said, `Salman fell last night at the start of his act and had to be rushed to hospital. We were with him till 5 am. Today, his brother is with him and planning to take him home to Bangalore.
Salman, who came into the city to perform at the event, was supposed to be home for his sister's engagement that is in the next two days.` He added that Salman had sustained injuries to his leg, knees and ribs but was out of danger.
Rucha Pathak, senior executive director, Studios, Disney UTV, said in a statement, `At the awards ceremony, 30 seconds into the act and Salman fell down from a height about two storeys. We had to rush him to Kokilaben Hospital. Doctors gave him anaesthesia and took X-rays. He also had to do a CT scan and an MRI.`
Meanwhile, Remo, the director of ABCD, said, `It is very unfortunate that Salman fell but I am glad that he is fine. I know him from the first season of Dance India Dance and I can't understand how he is so prone to accidents. This is not the first time that he has injured himself. The plank, which was weak, was replaced but he still fell. So, we can't blame anyone. It was an accident.`
