From Aryan Khan’s arrest to Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter ban: Controversies that kept Bollywood in news all year

All through this year, Bollywood celebrities were among the biggest newsmakers, although, not always for the best reasons. From FIRs to IT raids, arrests to social media bans, many stars saw themselves caught up in controversies. Here’s revisiting the year that went by.

Raj Kundra arrested in porn case 

In July, Shilpa Shetty’s husband, businessman Raj Kundra was arrested in connection with an alleged porn racket. He was accused of producing and distributing pornographic content through his apps. The couple kept silent on the arrest for a while but Shilpa finally released a statement on social media, asking everyone to be respectful of her privacy. She added that she had faith in the country’s judiciary to deliver justice. Raj was released on bail in September.

Aryan Khan arrested in drugs case

In October, Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan was arrested in connection to a drug bust aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Mumbai. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested him and he had to spend almost three weeks in jail. He was released on bail on October 28. The court found that Aryan had no drugs on his person. He was asked to mark weekly attendance at the NCB office but he has been given relief from that as well now.

Kangana Ranaut banned from Twitter

After making a bunch of controversial statements on Twitter, Kangana Ranaut was banned from the app in May. She reportedly made inflammatory comments about the West Bengal elections when Twitter decided to ban her permanently. Since then, she has been sharing her ‘thoughts’ on Instagram and the homegrown Koo app instead. There too, she regularly sparks ups controversies with her comments.

IT raids on Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu

The Income Tax department raided properties of actor Taapsee Pannu and director Anurag Kashyap in March. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman also commented on the raids. A few days after the raid, Taapsee wrote in a tweet, “3 days of intense search of 3 things primarily. 1. The keys of the ‘alleged’ bungalow that I apparently own in Paris. Because summer holidays are around the corner. 2. The ‘alleged’ receipt worth 5 crores to frame n keep for future pitching coz I’ve been refused that money before 3. My memory of 2013 raid that happened with me according to our honourable finance minister.”

Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya’s split

After weeks of rumours circulating all over the internet, actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya confirmed that they were separating indeed. After the announcement, fresh rumours were floated online that Samantha was the one who did not want kids and had affairs with other people. She took to Instagram to clarify. “Thank you all for showing deep empathy, concern and for defending me against false rumours and stories that are being spread. They say I had affairs, never wanted children, that I am an opportunist and now that I have had abortions,” she said. 

“A divorce in itself is an extremely painful process. Let alone allowing me the time to heal. This attack on me personally, has been relentless. But I promise you this, I will never allow this or anything else they say, break me,” she added. 

Row around Tandav

Saif Ali Khan’s Amazon Prime show was hit with a bunch of controversies and boycott calls upon release. Multiple FIRs against the series’ director Ali Abbas Zafar, producer, writer, actors and Amazon India Originals’ head Aparna Purohit, were filed in six states. The makers of the web series faced criminal cases for hurting religious sentiments.

Ali released a statement and apologised for ‘hurting sentiment’: “The web series Tandav is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is purely coincidental. The cast and crew did not have any intention to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any institution, political party or person, living or dead. The cast and crew of Tandav take cognisance of the concerns expressed by the people and unconditionally apologise if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments.”

Backlash against Jehangir’s name

Saif and his actor wife Kareena Kapoor had to face fresh round of controversy in August when the name of their second son, Jehangir, was revealed to the world. A section of people took offence to the name, citing the assumption that he was named after a Mughal emperor.

Speaking about the furore, Kareena told Guardian, “Honestly, these are names that we just liked; it’s nothing else. They are beautiful names and they’re beautiful boys. It’s unfathomable why somebody would troll children. I feel terrible about it, but I have to just focus and get through it. I can’t be looking at my life through the trolls.”