'Politically incorrect' stars keep controversies alive in 2010

Things may have been dull at the box office with big budget films like Kites, Raavan and Guzaarish falling flat one after the other but Bollywood stars and their 'politically incorrect' ways more than made up for the lack of spice onscreen in 2010.

The major film controversies revolved around the three Khans — Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman — and their releases.

Following the motto that any publicity is good publicity, the stars not only made controversial statements but also went public with their grievances on microblogging website Twitter.

Aamir's Rancho act in Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots brought audience affection but the film's box office triumph saw the producers and writer Chetan Bhagat fighting over credits. Chetan was upset that his name was given in the last credits while Hirani said the film was partially inspired from the book and the writer had approved everything.

Aamir jumped in the ring by calling Bhagat a liar while producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra locked horns with media telling the journalists to 'shut up' when questioned on the controversy only to apologise later.

As if 3 Idiots was not enough, Aamir's production Peepli Live was also embroiled in a similar row. Director Anusha Rizvi and her husband separated themselves from the project over differences with Aamir on credit and promotions.

Aamir, who has a reputation of being too interfering as a producer, had also famously fallen out with Amol Gupte during the making of Taare Zameen Par.

After his airport detention incident in the US, Shah Rukh continued to dominate headlines. He earned the ire of the Shiv Sena, which threatened to stall the release of the movie after the actor refused to apologise for his comments supporting the inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL.

The issue had the whole industry divided. Many stars including SRK's arch rival Salman came out in the actor's support and commended him for not bowing down to the illogical political pressure but Amitabh Bachchan drew a flak for keeping mum.

Salman was another star who was caught with the 'foot-in-the-mouth syndrome' during the release of Dabangg by saying that Pakistan should not be blamed for 26/11 attacks. Salman reportedly told a Pakistani news channel the attacks were a security failure and Pakistan should not be blamed for it but after political parties raised a storm, he apologised.

As Bollywood stars took a shine to microblogging it also became the war zone with celebrities throwing caution to the wind to unwind online. Twitter became SRK's spokesperson during the Sena-MNIK controversy.

Author Shobha De's causting comments on I Hate Luv Storys and Dabangg caused her some embarrassment with director Punit Malhotra and actress Sonam Kapoor calling her a fossil.

Shobha tweeted that Punit should be spanked publicly for making the film and the debutante director retorted she should not be taken seriously. Sonam retweeted the message but removed it and apologised to the writer, apparently at the behest of her father Anil Kapoor.

Dabangg producer Arbaaz Khan was not that generous in his tweets about De while reacting to her comments calling for a ban on the movie, following Salman's controversial comments on 26/11.

Amitabh's presence at the inauguration of the second carriage way of Bandra-Worli sea link created a political storm with Congress objecting to his presence since he was the brand ambassador of Narendra Modi-led Gujarat.

Kites may have turned a big disappointment and a huge set-back for Hrithik Roshan but his sizzling chemistry with lead star Barbara Mori kept the gossip mills busy. It did little to help Kites fly at the box office. Hrithik's Guzaarish too failed to melt the audience heart who snubbed the movie despite its good reviews.

Bollywood beauties and their catfights continued to hog limelights and helped Karan Johar generate TRPs for his show Koffee With Karan. It remains a mystery, however, as to why normally shy Bollywood stars are so natural and willing to spill the beans on the show.

Once friends Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra became enemies. Apparently unhappy with Priyanka's closeness to her ex-boyfriend Shahid Kapoor, Kareena had made fun of Priyanka's accent. Not to be left behind Priyanka retorted badly.

Deepika Padukone, who recently broke up with Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor, who reportedly dated him during Sawariyaa, took pot shots at the young Kapoor.

Hinting at his unfaithfulness, Deepika said Ranbir should endorse a condom while Sonam rated the actor low in sex appeal, making his papa Rishi Kapoor very unhappy. Rishi not only chided the actress but also swore that they will never get to work with the actor. The veteran star was also upset with Karan for encouraging such comments.

Even Mani Ratnam could not help give Abhishek Bachchan's career a boast with Raavan doing miserably at the box office. With Abhishek getting bad reviews for his performance, Amitabh Bachchan jumped to his son's defence, saying that the film was edited badly.