In 2015, heroes were born. Some, unwittingly.
In a fast moving news cycle, where we often live from one outrage to other, stars are made and brought down to the ground in a matter of seconds. There are the A-listers like Modi, Kejriwal and RaGa and then there are those individuals who come into our collective consciousness suddenly, often through news that has high shock value.
Here are 8 unexpected stars of 2015, who with their antics or back stories either made us giggle, curious, wonder or made us despair about their existence. But all in all, they turned out to be paisa-vasool - a welcome break in the normal tu-tu main-main of top politicians.
Krishna Shroff
For all the coordinated photo-shoots by top heroines with a PR machinery on overdrive to garner rave reviews, the best photo-shoot of the year was done by Krishna Shroff, Jacky Shroff's daughter. Krishna, oozed sensuality in her 'topless' pictures and as male hormones soared, the hit counters of websites also went up and Bollywood journalists were given assignments to find out any news of her first film! However, it turned out that she was merely posing for her boyfriend and is not interested in movies at all! Heartbreaking, but Krishna did give our Bollywood heroines a run for their money and suddenly shot into everyone's top fantasy list.
Hardik Patel
Is it a malfunctioning camera? Is it a cancelled foreign trip? No, it was a man who seemed like he just walked out of a Russell Peters joke, who forced PM Modi to finally break his silence about some uncomfortable issues. While several areas in Gujarat were on strike and burning, PM Modi had to address citizens of his home state to maintain peace and order. The chief tormentor who destroyed BJP's sound Patel game in Gujarat was 22-year-old Hardik, by rallying the Patidar community with demands of quota. Patel may be in jail now facing sedition charges, but as BJP's defeat in the local body polls showed, he has managed to do the seemingly impossible by breaching the saffron fortress.
(Read: When Hardik Patel broke Narendra Modi's silence)
Indrani Mukerjea
The entire nation lost its head when Indrani Mukerjea was accused of heinous crimes like having a life, marrying more than once, drinking wine, spelling Mukherjee wrong and possibly murdering her daughter/sister, with her son/brother also accusing her, while her second/third? husband Peter Mukerjea did his best Jon Snow impersonation. The unravelling of the Sheena Bora murder case was actually more scriptworthy than most Bollywood movies made this year. Mainstream media relegated mundane news to the back pages while the entire farce played out, despite the fact that the only "verified" information some managed to get was the fact that Indrani ate a sandwich. (And as one journalist pointed out, we don't know which sandwich!) Eventually, the police didn't buy into Peter's "I-had-no-clue" theory and finally booked him as well.
Radhe Maa
Feminism finally caught up with the religious guru culture as Radhe Maa toppled Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan for ‘Craziest Godman/Woman of the Year’ Award, and she didn’t even have to release a movie! The mainstream media went absolutely nuts over Radhe Maa, a mini skirt-wearing godwoman with more make-up than a cosmetic store (which she claims is put on her by her followers). Like Indrani, the stories just got weirder and weirder. Some accused her of dowry harassment, an audio clip of her was released which allegedly showed her flirting with a VHP man, she was banned from the Kumbh Mela, she kissed a reporter during an interview (not on the lips) and her trishul was banned from flights. Oh, and Dolly Bindra claimed that that her followers forced her to take part in sexual orgies during satsangs.
All in all, it wasn’t a great year for the god-woman.
(Read: All you need to know about Radhe Maa)
Don
After winning the Delhi elections with a whopping 67/70 seats, one would think that the Aam Aadmi Party would’ve have a brilliant year, but instead it was a year when the party would be in the news for all the wrong reasons. There was that Kejriwal hug with Lalu Prasad Yadav, a suicide during an AAP rally, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were thrown out for questioning Arvind and Somnath Bharti went AWOL for a while.
The Somnath Bharti case was bizarre beyond belief, particularly because of the involvement of Don, his beloved dog who apparently turns into a vicious killer and attacks women when no one is looking. The police apparently picked up Don multiple times, and to prove Don’s ‘innocence’, Somnath urged him to attack the press and police, but the dog maintained a dignified silence.
Sadly, Don is suffering from heart disease and the last thing he needs is to be part of a battle like this.
Ameesha Patel
The second most bizarre Twitter fight of the year had everything – bloodshed, accusations of non-patriotism, a Patel who actually needs reservations and a Bigg Boss winner (you know the first one on the list is not fit for a family-friendly website, but Bloodshot Ink and Roma, you guys need help).
Before, it became fashionable to bash-up people for not standing up for national anthem, Kushal Tandon accused the actress of disrespecting the anthem for refusing to stand up. This led to the nation’s first open conversation about menstruation where Ameesha claimed that she had a "girly problem". She tweeted: “Idiot kushal Tandon had the nerve to tweet that I didn't get up during national anthem. Did the jackass ask why? Women we all need to slap kushal. I had the monthly girly problem. Getting up wud have caused a blood flow on the theatre ground. I waited for the film to start so I cud address my GirLY problem in the bathroom. Didn't know that kushal wud make it a national issue(sic).”
Frankly, it’s unbecoming of a grown woman to call a process as natural as menstruating a ‘girly problem’.
Anupam Kher
And finally, we witnessed Anupam Kher take up his finest role ever – acting Prime Minister. For the past year, Anupam Kher became the loudest voice protesting the ‘intolerance debate’, tweeting in support of the man the nation voted for in 2014. Such was his domain level expertise in this particular area that he has now become the sole indicator to gauge the tolerance level in the nation.
When a host of awards were being returned to protest 'intolerance', Anupam Kher and his band of angry men took out a ‘March for India’ where Kher claimed that he wouldn’t tolerate any talk of intolerance under his watch. He also directed some outrage at his colleague Dibakar Banerjee for returning an award that frankly he had no right to return (since it was the award for Best Film and belonged to the producers). All in all, Anupam Kher was the breakout 'unexpected star' of the year.
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 "Radhe Maa, Anupam Kher")
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