While 2015 brought huge commercial success to two of the biggest Khans of Bollywood — Salman and Shah Rukh — they, along with Aamir Khan also got embroiled in controversies for expressing their views.
While 2015 brought huge commercial success to two of the biggest Khans of Bollywood — Salman and Shah Rukh — they, along with Aamir Khan also got embroiled in controversies for expressing their views.
Salman, who has a knack for inviting controversies, received the biggest jolt when a sessions court in Mumbai convicted him in the hit-and-run case of 2002. Several Bollywood celebrities who expressed solidarity with Salman after his conviction were also criticised by commoners on social networking sites.
While the sessions court held him guilty, the Bombay high court acquitted him all of the charges. The verdict surely brought relief and happiness to Salman, his family and fans. However, by the end of the year the news came that the state government is going to challenge the high court verdict in the Supreme Court. “We will fight it in the Supreme Court also,” the actor told journalists on his birthday on December 27.
Earlier this year, Salman invited angry reactions from various quarters after his posts on his Twitter handle suggesting that Yakub Memon, who was sentenced to death for his role in 1993 serial blasts case, was innocent. The actor soon deleted his posts and apologised after his father Salim Khan also did not approve of them.
On the other hand, Aamir Khan who usually manages to keep himself away from controversies, landed in one when he said that his wife Kiran Rao suggested that they should leave the country because of the growing intolerance. Some of the right wing organisations even held protests outside his Bandra residence. Though the actor did not withdraw his statement, he claimed that those who were criticising him had misinterpreted his statement.
“First, let me state categorically that neither I, nor my wife Kiran, have any intention of leaving the country. We never did, and nor would we like to in the future. Anyone implying the opposite has either not seen my interview or is deliberately trying to distort what I have said. India is my country, I love it, I feel fortunate for being born here, and this is where I am staying. Secondly, I stand by everything that I have said in my interview. To all those people who are calling me anti-national, I would like to say that I am proud to be Indian, and I do not need anyone’s permission nor endorsement for that. To all the people shouting obscenities at me for speaking my heart out, it saddens me to say you are only proving my point,” the actor said in the statement issued the day after the controversy erupted.
Shah Rukh evoked similar reactions when, on his 50th birthday, he said there was “extreme intolerance” in the country. His comments snowballed into a political controversy, with ruling BJP leaders criticising the actor. He later claimed that he never said India was intolerant and his words were misconstrued.
