Divya
The year 2020 has been a tough one for us but it looks like Bollywood got hit much harder.
As sourced from a Peeping Moon post, here is a list of some of Bollywood’s most popular controversies this year.
01 Deepika Padukone’s JNU visit
Deepika Padukone’s visit to JNU to express solidarity with students against the CAA and NRC created quite a stir. Many labelled the actress’ presence on the university campus as a publicity stunt for her film Chhapaak. Several hashtags both positive and negative, like #DeepikaPadukone, #IStandWithDeepika, #BoycottDeepikaPadukone and #BoycottChhapaak started trending on Twitter, following her visit. However, many celebs applauded Deepika’s stance and supported her on Twitter.
02 Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death probe
Sushant Singh Rajput left everyone in shock when he was found dead on the morning of June 14, 2020.His demise caused havoc amongst the fans that demanded an inquiry and were unhappy with Mumbai Police’s version of events. The fans and family of the late actor compelled the Supreme Court to transfer the case to CBI where it is still under investigation. Even after six months of Sushant’s demise his fans are keeping the vigil and the fight for justice alive by trending #JusticeForSSR every week.
03 Rhea Chakraborty’s arrest
Sushant Singh Rajput’s death left the film fraternity, his fans and his family in shock. Once his family got a grip on his death they filed an abetment to suicide case against his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty for siphoning his money and torturing him mentally. Rhea’s and her brother Showik Chakraborty’s phone chats were circulated in the media where they spoke about procuring banned substance. The siblings were arrested by the Narcotics Crime Bureau after the agency stepped in to take over the drug angle in the case. Rhea’s arrest opened an ugly can of worms where apparently she took the names of several celebs including Rakul Preet Singh, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor who were also questioned. Deepika Padukone also came under the scanner after her WhatsApp chats with her manager Karishma Prakash surfaced. Several celebs sided with Rhea and termed her arrest and interrogation as witch-hunt. After staying in the jail for 28 days she was granted bail on a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
04 Bollywood Drug Case
After the NCB stepped in to inquire in the drug probe related to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death an ugly can of worms opened that got several celebs under the scanner. The investigation agency nabbed several drug peddlers who gave out the names of various celebs including Firoz Nadiadwala’s wife, Bharti Singh and husband Haarsh Limbachiyaa. Arjun Rampal’s girlfriend Gabriella Demetriades’ brother Agisilaos Demetriades was arrested for allegedly being in touch with drug peddlers. Arjun’s residence was also raided and both he and Gabriella were summoned by the NCB. Bharti was arrested after the agency found ganja at her residence and office. The comedienne was later released on bail.
05 Sonu Sood’s philanthropic work questioned by naysayers
Sonu Sood was termed a messiah when he came forward to help migrant workers reach their hometowns during the coronavirus lockdown. Subsequently, to help people he floated a tollfree number as well where he can be reached by stranded people. Many people reached him through Twitter but after some time those accounts were not to be found raising the claim that Sonu’s philanthropic work is a fake publicity campaign. However, the alleged claims were negated as the actor and his team shared proofs of helping people during the lockdown and even after that with financial, transportation and medical aid. The Twitter accounts were created by people in distress who reached out to the actor but later on deleted these social media accounts once their purpose were served as many of them had asked their more affluent and tech-savvy acquaintances to create these accounts. Sonu negated these claims and provided medical bills to prove patients admitted in hospitals whose treatments have been funded by him.
06 Nepotism
Sushant’s demise brought the old debate of nepotism back to the forefront in Bollywood. Several star kids were slammed on social media and had to face brickbats and unnecessary online trolling. Some of them like Sonakshi Sinha bid adieu to Twitter calling it a very ‘toxic place’. Several films having star kids as lead fared badly when they released on the digital platform due to the public’s rising sentiment against groupism and nepotism in Bollywood.
07 Kangana Ranaut slammed with several legal cases and demolition of her office by BMC
Kangana Ranaut took to social media to bring the nepotism and groupism debate to fore in the aftermath of Sushant’s death. She also shared harsh words against the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government. Her interviews and videos made the BMC see red and they proceeded to demolish a part of her office citing illegal construction. However, Kangana did not lie low and challenged it in court. The public office was held responsible for illegal demolition as the court found that there was no illegal construction on the actress’ property. However, Kangana faced a lot of legal trouble as Javed Akhtar filed a defamation suit against her and so did several others. Her tweets were also labelled as seditious and inciting violence, wherein several people have filed FIRs against her. The investigation is still under way for these cases.
08 Producers and other Bollywood associations send legal notice to media outlets
In the aftermath of Sushant’s death, several houses started using derogatory and foul language for the film industry and celebrities. The news channels alleged that the industry is rampant with drug abuse and used words like ‘dirt’, ‘filth’, ‘scum’, ‘druggies’ and expressions such as ‘all the perfumes of Arabia cannot take away the stench and the stink of this filth and scum of the underbelly of Bollywood’ during reporting. As many as 38 film bodies and production houses including those of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Aditya Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Film &Television Producers Guild of India (PGI) and Cine & TV Artistes Association (CINTAA) and others filed a suit against a news channel and four journalists for defaming the Hindi film industry. Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, Pradeep Bhandari, Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar, Navika Kumar have been named in the suit filed before the Delhi High Court.
09 Sadak 2 failure and controversy over poster
Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Roy Kapur and Pooja Bhatt starrer Sadak 2 was one of the most anticipated films of the year as it brought back Mahesh Bhatt back to the director’s chair. However, the film courted controversy right from its poster release. Its poster showcased an image of Kailash Mansarovar. A complaint was filed against it for allegedly ‘hurting religious sentiments of Hindus’. Sadak 2 also bore the brunt of the audience’s boycott as its trailer became the most disliked trailer on YouTube and the film received an extremely low rating on IMDb.
10 Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s divorce proceedings and allegations made by his wife Aaliya
Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s marriage hit rock bottom this year when his wife Aaliya Siddiqui filed for divorce from the actor. She alleged that he was an absent father and husband and had also accused him of infidelity. However, the actor and his lawyers dismissed the claims saying it’s a well-constructed ‘slander campaign’ against him.
11 Bollywood actress accuses Anurag Kashyap of sexual assault and molestation
An actress accused Anurag Kashyap of sexual assault and molestation. She claimed the filmmaker raped her in 2013, an allegation he had denied. An FIR was registered against him at the Versova police station on September 22, under Sections 376 (I) (rape), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the Indian Penal Code. Anurag, via a statement issued by his lawyer Priyanka Khimani, denied the charges levelled against him. “My client, Anurag Kashyap, has been deeply pained by the false allegations of sexual misconduct that have recently surfaced against him. These allegations are completely false, malicious and dishonest,” his lawyer said.
12 Poonam Pandey’s marriage, domestic assault and arrest over nude photo shoot
Poonam Pandey left everyone surprised after she announced she has tied the knot with Sam Bombay. The couple even took off for their honeymoon to Goa. However, she filed a police complaint claiming that her husband had assaulted her and beaten her. Bombay was arrested on her accusations but was later released on bail. Later on, Poonam took back her complaint saying that she wants to give her marriage another chance. Poonam was later arrested for allegedly shooting an ‘obscene’ video of herself in Vanavond on the constituency of Beli. The video was shot at a restricted dam site in South Goa and had gone viral on social media.
13 Milind Soman’s nude run on Goa beach
Milind Soman turned 55 years old this year and to celebrate his birthday the model-actor ran the length of a Goa beach in the buff. He shared the image on his social media. Many applauded the actor’s physique and stamina but when a day later Poonam Pandey was arrested for shooting an obscene video, many called out the hypocrisy of it all. Netizens as well as screenwriter Apurva Asrani said that we are kinder to our men while we take offence with the actions of our women. Following his and netizens rant, the Goa police booked Milind for obscenity.
14 Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt vs Luviena Lodh
Actress Luviena Lodh accused Mahesh Bhatt and his family of harassment in a video message that went viral. Luviena claimed that she is married to Mahesh’s nephew Sumit Sabharwal and said she has filed for divorce. Alleging that people have lost their jobs because of Mahesh, she addressed him as the ‘biggest don of the industry’. However, Sumit as well as the Bhatts issued statements stating that the former is just an employee of Vishesh Films and is not related to the Bhatts. They alleged that the entire controversy has been staged by Luviena to extort a lucrative ‘settlement’ for her disputes with Sumit. Luviena had given several interviews against Mahesh Bhatt.
15 Vijay Raaz’s arrest in molestation case
Vijay Raaz was arrested by Gondia Police for allegedly molesting a female crew on the sets of Vidya Balan starrer Sherni. The actor was taken to Ramnagar Police Station where he was later granted bail. However, the court has said he has to appear before the investigation officer whenever needed.The shoot of the film was put on hold following his arrest.
16 Diljit Dosanjh stand with farmers vs Kangana Ranaut
Diljit Dosanjh has come forward to lend his support to the farmers who have been protesting against the Farmers’ Bill. However, the actor-singer’s stance has been challenged by Kangana Ranaut who accused him of being an ‘anti-national’. Kangana’s and Diljit’s Twitter spat has been going on for some time now. The two have been taking potshots at each other. Recently, Diljit gave it back to Kangana saying that ‘who gave her the right to judge someone as anti-national’ and said that the actress is obsessed with him.
