Sushant Singh Rajput's death to Deepika's JNU visit, controversies that hit Bollywood hard
The year 2020 was already hard on everyone, courtesy of the COVID19 pandemic. From financial losses to personal hardships, it was a year of struggle for all. With cinema halls shut down and shoots coming to a halt, it was expected that the world of showbiz won't be able to grab eyeballs this year but there was hardly a day when Bollywood celebrities weren't in the headline. If not for their films, the endless controversies attached to their names kept breaking the internet.
From actor Sushant Singh Rajput's mysterious death in June to Deepika Padukone's eye-popping appearance at JNU in January, Bollywood was hit hard by controversies. Have a look that the most talked-about Bollywood controversies in 2020.
1. Deepika Padukone JNU visit
The year 2020 began with actress Deepika Padukone returning to the big screen with her film Chhapaak. There was already a lot of buzz around the film as fans were excited to watch Deepika weave magic with her performance after more than a year. However, during the promotions of the film, the actress made a visit to JNU to show her support to the students and people protesting against violence in relation to CAA protests that led to severe criticism. Not just Deepika received flak from a section of the people, many social media trends ruled the headlines asking to 'Boycott Chhapaak.'
While Deepika Padukone refrained from making any statement during or after her visit to JNU, she showed her solidarity with the students who were protesting against violence.
2. Sushant Singh Rajput Death
The year 2020 will surely be remembered by late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's name. The actor was found dead at his Bandra house on June 14. His death left many in shock and hit Bollywood like a Tsunami. Many were accused and were called the reason that Sushant died by suicide. From nepotism to drugs, many shocking secrets about the film industry came to the shore. While Sushant's family accused his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family of abetting suicide, Kangana Ranaut accused Bollywood biggies of being the 'bullies' and a catalyst in his suffering.
Sushant Singh Rajput's death was initially investigated by the Mumbai Police but was later transferred to CBI. Two other agencies- NCB and ED, have also been investigating the case still.
3. Bollywood celebs under NCB scanner
Sushant Singh Rajput's death opened curtains to many secrets of Bollywood. One was how the film industry has deep connections with drugs and narcotics substances. with many Whatsapp chats of celebrities as well as their managers leaking out, stars like Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakulpreet Singh, Arjun Rampal and others came under the scanner of Narcotics Control Bureau. All of them were summoned for questioning and were grilled about their connections with drug dealers and Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
Even after six months of Sushant's death, NCB is investigating the drug circuit in Bollywood. In the process, they had arrested Rhea Chakraborty and his brother Showik. The actress stayed in Byculla jail for over a month.
ALSO READ | 2020 wrap: SSR, Kangana Ranaut, Sanjay Dutt; biggest celeb sensations on social media
4. Kangana Ranaut vs Bollywood
In 2020, actress Kangana Ranaut decided to join Twitter saying: "This year, I have seen the power of social media, and I observed that how the whole world has come together in the fight for Sushant (Singh Rajput), and we have gained success... All this has given me a lot of hope, and I have an aspiration that through this we can launch reforms for new India... and that is the reason for the first time I have come on Twitter."
Ever since she took over managing her social media, she either won hearts or got slammed by people, including her fraternity members for sharing her strong opinions on nepotism, drug menace in Bollywood and more. She came out in the open about Mahesh Bhatt, Karan Johar and other big names in Bollywood accusing them of nepotism and calling the industry 'Bully-wood.' She even announced that she is ready to call out names involved in drugs, provided she is given security by the government.
5. Kangana Ranaut vs BMC
While Kangana Ranaut's war with Bollywood was not over, she landed in a new controversy when she came face to face with the government in Maharashtra and used 'objectionable' language for Mumbai. Next thing, she moved to Bombay High court alleging that the BMC demolished her Pali Hill office in Mumbai without any prior notice. The actress had filed the petition on September 9 when the demolition process was initiated by BMC. The court had in an interim order on September 9 stayed the demolition work.
Later, the Bombay High Court declared the BMC's action of demolishing a part of actress Kangana Ranaut's bungalow in Mumbai as illegal. A division bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and RI Chagla said that "it smacks of malafide intentions" and set aside BMC's September 7 and 8 notices to the actress.
ALSO READ | Mumbai court dismisses Kangana Ranaut's plea against demolition notice
6. Sonu Nigam vs Tseries
Soon after the discussion regarding nepotism in Bollywood spread its wings, singer Sonu Nigam has shocked the internet when he shared a video warning Tseries's Chairman and MD Bhushan Kumar and claiming that power lies to a few in the music industry. After his allegation, many more singers have come out and supported him revealing that 'mafia' does exist in the industry and 'newcomers' are not warmly welcomed.
This led to a war of words between Sonu Nigam and Bhushan Kumar's wife Divya Kumar Khosla who replied to the allegations with a video post. The actress called him 'thankless' as Tseries had launched Sonu Nigam.
