There were so many fights in the first four months of 2017, that it called for a separate write-up
We are only in the fifth month of 2017 and already the film and TV industries have been rocked by major controversies. Mind you, we are not talking about film clashes, box-office collections and actors opting out or replaced in movies or shows! These pale in comparison to the happenings in the past four months. From mid-air fights where abuses were hurled and chappals were flung in a plane, to sexual harassment cases filed against top bosses, charges of nepotism against a filmmaker, symbolical shaving of head and the foreign media mistaking our desi divas, the first four months have created a dhoom! Here’s the lowdown on the sensational cause célèbres...
Mistaken identity
Deepika Padukone as Priyanka Chopra
All hell broke loose when the foreign paps mistook Deepika Padukone as Priyanka Chopra! Dippy, who had been ignoring the goof-ups from the international press for some time — at the promotion of her film xXx - The Return Of Xander Cage — refused to take the latest one lying down. She called it an act of racism. Among other things, she pointed out that two people of similar colour are not the same people. The jury is still out — was it a case of plain ignorance or racism?
He, awardee?
Akshay Kumar vs the world
This is Khiladi Kumar’s first National Award and he got it for two films — Rustom and Airlift. Even as he took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the jury, confusion arose over which film he got the honour for, as the list of awardees mentioned only Rustom. As he was rejoicing his win, questions were raised about him deserving to win in a year when Aamir Khan put in a winning performance in Dangal. Director Priyadarshan, who headed the jury, defended the decision in an interview saying Aamir doesn’t personally accept the award if he is given one, citing Taare Zameen Par (The film bagged the National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare in 2008) as an example. This only made things worse, and the credibility of the Awards came under the scanner. So much so that Akshay at a press meet said, “I’ve won this after 26 years. Agar woh bhi aapka mann kare toh, le lo (take it back if you feel like it).” That should be the last of it, we hope.
Song-and-dance
Sonakshi Sinha vs Kailash Kher-Armaan Malik, Amaal Malik and Sona Mohapatra
Even before Justin Bieber set foot in India, the controversy over Sonakshi Sinha being approached as one of the opening acts erupted after Kailash Kher said in an interview that “It doesn’t give a good message internationally. People overseas will think that the actress must be a big singer in India. Then she will get concert offers, and then probably, she will laugh them off saying, ‘I am not a singer but an actor’.” Singer Armaan Malik and his composer brother Amaal Malik supported Kailash on Twitter. This led to a war of words between Sonakshi and the Mallik Bros. Sonakshi sought to shut down the feud with this statement: “Firstly, I am not performing at the Bieber concert.Secondly, I’m an actor who loves music, who loves to perform and who loves to sing. And if anyone has a problem with that, in the wise words of Baba Bieber himself…they can go “love” themselves. Over and out.” But it’s not over as it started the singer vs actor debate with singer Sona Mohapatra jumping into the fray...
Forced wake-up call
Sonu Nigam vs ‘forced religiousness’
Sonu Nigam tweeted against the use of loudspeakers for azaan in the mosques saying, “God bless everyone. I’m not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the i in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India?” He followed it up by a series of tweets and got severely trolled for them. He also invited the wrath of a cleric who issued a fatwa announcing Rs 10 lakh to anyone who shaves Sonu’s head. The singer reacted by getting his head tonsured by a celebrity hairstylist! Hai Allah!
Mile-high melee
Kapil Sharma vs Sunil Grover
The entire team of The Kapil Sharma Show was returning from Melbourne, where they had gone to perform live. On the flight, Kapil abused fellow comedians Sunil Grover, Ali Asgar and Chandan Prabhakar. In fact, Kapil assaulted Sunil and there were reports about the former hurling his chappals at the latter. Sunil, Ali and Chandan boycotted Kapil’s show. Kapil got trolled by Sunil’s fans, after which the former offered an apology to the latter on social media. Sunil replied with a long post on Facebook telling Kapil among other things to not act like God and to start respecting human beings apart from animals. Ever since, Sunil has boycotted the show, the ratings of which have plummeted. Rumours are flying thick and fast about Sunil being approached for another show by the channel.
Flagged for nepotism
Kangana Ranaut Vs Karan Johar
On Koffee With Karan, Kangana Ranaut was a riot with her comments about the host. She accused him of being the movie mafia and the flag-bearer of nepotism. It created a furore in B-Town. Karan, later, in an interview, gave it back to Kangana saying she was playing the ‘victim’ card and the ‘woman’ card and that he was done with her. Kangana retaliated by saying she was actually playing the ‘badass’ card and was fighting male chauvinism. The ball is now in Karan’s court.
Did he, didn’t he?
Shilpa Shinde vs Sanjay Kohli
Shilpa Shinde, the erstwhile Angoori Bhabhi of Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hain, filed a case of sexual harassment against the show’s producer Sanjay Kohli, a year after she quit the show. She alleged that Sanjay often tried to take advantage of her and called her ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’. She said that he even touched her inappropriately once. But Sanjay and his wife Binaifer Kohli have countered it by reportedly filing a criminal defamation case against Shilpa.
In bad company
TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar vs female employees and associates
The founder-CEO of The Viral Fever (TVF) Arunabh Kumar was accused online by an anonymous blogger, claiming to be a former employee, of molesting her several times over the course of her tenure. The post went viral, leading to several more similar experiences being made public. After several women came forward with complaints under condition of anonymity, advocate Rizwan Siddiqui filed a case against Arunabh who was arrested and later released.
The Phantom Menace
Vikas Bahl vs complainant
The Queen director was accused of molestation, following which the other stakeholders of Phantom — production house founded by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Madhu Mantena apart from Vikas — set up a committee as per the Vishakha guidelines to hear out her grievance. Vikas has denied all allegations. The future of the company is now mired in uncertainty.
Puppy pause
Mira Rajput vs working mothers and feminists
At a Women’s Day event, Mira Rajput spoke about motherhood thus: “I wouldn’t want to spend one hour a day with my child and rush off to work. Why did I have her? She is not a puppy, you know...” This had working mothers up in arms against her on social media. Her other statement — about today’s feminism being aggressive and destructive — also came in for flak. Her former classmate called her out and said her concept of feminism is flawed. Sasha was stuck on damage control duty for a bit after that.
Do the ‘mute’ math
Ilaiyaraaja vs SP Balasubrahmanyam
SP was on a celebration tour in the US to mark 50 years of playback singing this March. Mid-tour, Ilaiyaraaja’s lawyers sent him a legal notice barring him from using the composer’s work for his tour. This, despite them having the maximum hits together and sharing a good equation. It is believed that the composer was only trying to protect the composer’s rights as far as royalties go.
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 "Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra")
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