Bollywood sails through a year full of controversies

The release of four sports-oriented films - Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Dangal’, Salman Khan-starrer ‘Sultan’, ‘M S Dhoni: The Untold Story’ and ‘Azhar’, war thriller ‘Airlift’ in which Akshay Kumar played the lead role, ‘Force 2’, in which John Abraham-Sonakshi Sinha paired and ‘Neerja’, in which Sonam Kapoor essayed the role of the brave air-hostess who thwarted a hijack attempt in Karachi, and action-drama ‘Akira’ were some of the Bollywood films that dominated the silver screen.

However, despite mega successes, controversies had its own share because Karan Johar’s ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ (ADHM) and Shah Rukh Khan’s to-be-released ‘Raees’ have Pakistani actors.

The row broke out after the attack on an army camp in the Uri sector along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan. The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA), too, banned Pakistan actors and technicians.

Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena threatened to stall the Diwali release of ADHM as it had Pakistani actor Fawad Khan playing a role. Written and directed by Karan Johar and produced by Dharma Production, his home banner, the film had Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma playing the lead roles.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis brokered a deal and chaired a meeting in which Raj, members of the film industry led by Mukesh Bhatt, the president of the Film & Television Producers Guild of India, were present. But the filmmaker’s offer to contribute Rs 5 crore to the army relief fund at Raj’s behest was refused by the armymen’s welfare body.

As far as ‘Raees’ is concerned, in which Pakistan actor  Mahira Shaikh plays a role, it is slated for release next month, and recently Khan also met Raj.

Salman’s double trouble

Salman Khan had to face controversies twice. First when the controversy over Pakistani artistes was brewing, he said, “They (Pakistani actors) are artistes, not terrorists. It is the government that gives them permits and visas”.

Second was about his comments on his training schedule for ‘Sultan’, which he described as, “...when I used to walk out of the ring, after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn’t walk straight. I would eat and then head right back for training...”

Censuring censor

‘Udta Punjab’ in which Shahid Kapoor played the role of a singer, resulted in a big controversy with the industry questioning Pahlaj Nihalani, the chairman of the Central Board for Film Certification. The film that highlighted the drug menace of Punjab had several cuss words and was even debated in the Bombay High Court, which cleared the release with just one cut where the main character Tommy Singh was shown urinating in front of a crowd.

For Sanjay Dutt, it was a major relief when he walked out of Pune’s Yerawada jail after serving a five-year jail term. The relief came 23 years after he was arrested for possessing AK-56 assault rifle that was part of the consignment that was brought to Mumbai before the 1993 serial blasts.

Hits and misses

There was good news for the Kapoor family and the royal Pataudi family, when Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan became parents to a baby boy, whom they named Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. The choice of the name generated a controversy on Twitter.

Bipasha Basu got married to actor Karan Singh Grover in a grand ceremony. During the year, dancer, model and actor Malaika Arora decided to separate from Arbaaz Khan, the brother of Salman Khan.

Showing the way, Tusshar Kapoor, son of legendary actor Jitendra and Shobha Kapoor, and brother of Ekta Kapoor, the tsarina of Indian TV industry, became a single father. Laksshya became the fifth member of the family.