In the 1993 Bombay bombings, 257 people died and more than 1,400 people were injured. The 1993 blasts are one of the most horrific chapters of the city. But do you know that during those days, many Bollywood celebrities were in Dubai for a match? In a recent interview, actor Akashdeep Sabir said that many stars were in Dubai for a celebrity cricket match at that point in time, and how things went at the last minute. The actor, while speaking with Lehre Retro, said that those blasts had created a lot of issues for them there as well. He said that the organisers asked the audiences not to show up for the celebrity match, citing the risks.
Akashdeep Sabir said, "This was the ’93 Bombay blasts, so it became an issue when… we were scheduled to have this match, and we were expecting a full house because we had every leading actor from Dilip saab to Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, everybody was there playing the match. And because of this issue, I believe, there was an announcement in Dubai that nobody will go for the match.” Further, speaking about how Dilip Kumar tried to convince the organisers to allow the audience to show up, he said, “Dilip Kumar ji and I tried to make requests so people would come but it didn't work out He said further, “Unfortunately, nobody came and we still had to have the match.”
Speaking about how this situation affected the promoter of the match, he said, “It got the promoter into such dire straits that the next morning he asked us to vacate the rooms booked for use. He told us to get earlier flights and leave because I have lost everything. I can’t afford to let people stay for another day.” After this, Bollywood’s King Khan, who was on the verge of stardom back then, wanted to spend a few more days in a foreign country with his wife. So when they were asked to leave, he was thinking about what he should do. Akashdeep said that’s when Sheeba asked them to come and stay at her apartment. Sheeba was an actress, and later she married Akashdeep Sabir.
Akashdeep said that it all happened when Baazigar had been released and it had not yet become what it is today, a big cult film. Akashdeep said, “Sheeba told them that I have a lovely apartment across the lake, you can come and stay there. He was more than sweet. She had a massive 4-5 bedroom house. Sheeba mentioned SRK was a lovely guest.”