2021
turned
out
to
be
yet
another
tumultuous
year
for
the
Hindi
film
industry,
filled
with
controversies,
FIRs,
arrests,
protests
and
trolling
even
as
prominent
personalities
of
Bollywood
came
under
the
scanner
of
central
agencies
like
the
Narcotics
Control
Bureau
(NCB),
Enforcement
Directorate
(ED)
and
the
Income
Tax
Department.
The
film
industry
faced
resistance
from
all
quarters,
tackled
multiple
FIRs
for
the
art
it
presented,
found
comedians
landing
in
trouble
for
the
jokes
they
cracked
or
were
about
to
crack
as
film
personalities
found
themselves
in
trouble
for
one
thing
or
the
other.
Superstar
Shah
Rukh
Khan's
24-year-old
son
Aryan
dominated
headlines
after
he
was
arrested
by
the
NCB
in
October
following
a
raid
on
a
cruise
ship
from
which
drugs
were
allegedly
seized.
Aryan,
who
had
successfully
stayed
away
from
media
spotlight
despite
being
a
star-kid,
suddenly
came
under
national
and
international
spotlight
with
the
case.
Aryan
was
subsequently
released
on
bail
after
spending
28
days
at
Mumbai's
Arthur
Road
Jail,
but
his
time
behind
bars
had
led
to
a
political
storm
outside.
Actor
Ananya
Panday,
close
friend
of
Aryan,
was
the
only
other
Bollywood
personality
to
appear
before
the
NCB,
after
the
central
agency
allegedly
came
across
WhatsApp
chats
during
its
investigation
against
the
latter,
a
stark
contrast
from
last
year,
where
a
host
of
Bollywood
stars,
including
Deepika
Padukone,
Sara
Ali
Khan,
Shraddha
Kapoor
and
Rakul
Preet
Singh
were
questioned
regarding
the
alleged
use
of
drugs
in
the
film
industry.
Filmmaker
Anurag
Kashyap,
actors
Taapsee
Pannu
and
Sonu
Sood
were
in
the
headlines
after
the
Income
Tax
Department
raided
their
premises.
While
Kashyap,
Pannu
--
both
considered
anti-establishment
voices
--
came
under
the
scanner
in
March,
Sood
was
raided
in
September.
Meanwhile
for
Sood,
the
Central
Board
of
Direct
Taxes
claimed
the
actor
routed
his
"unaccounted
income
in
the
form
of
bogus
unsecured
loans
from
many
bogus
entities" after
the
IT
department
raided
him
and
a
Lucknow-based
infrastructure
group.
Sood,
who
had
hit
headlines
during
the
lockdown
for
arranging
free
transport
through
rail,
air
and
road
for
numerous
migrant
workers
to
reach
their
home
states,
said
every
penny
in
his
foundation
was
reserved
for
the
needy.
The
two
Bollywood
personalities
who
came
under
the
ED
radar
were
Aishwarya
Rai
Bachchan
and
Jacqueline
Fernandez.
While
the
48-year-old
actor
was
questioned
in
a
case
linked
to
the
2016
'Panama
Papers' global
tax
leaks
case,
Fernandez
was
quizzed
in
connection
with
a
money
laundering
investigation
involving
alleged
conman
Sukesh
Chandrashekhar
and
others.
Actor
Shilpa
Shetty
also
found
her
family
in
the
middle
of
a
storm
after
her
businessman
husband
Raj
Kundra
was
arrested
in
a
pornography
case
in
July
and
finally
granted
bail
in
September.
The
actor,
mother
of
two,
was
subjected
to
vicious
trolling
and
intense
media
scrutiny,
prompting
her
to
post
a
statement
on
social
media,
requesting
people
to
give
the
family
privacy.
Bollywood,
which
had
already
faced
a
difficult
year
in
2020
as
an
industry,
remained
largely
under
trial
this
year
as
well
with
the
audience
and
even
political
parties
scrutinising
every
move
it
made.
Amazon
Prime
Video's
political
saga
"Tandav",
starring
Saif
Ali
Khan
and
Mohd
Zeeshan
Ayyub,
released
in
January
faced
the
brunt
of
multiple
FIRs
and
nationwide
protests
after
being
accused
of
hurting
religious
statements.
The
streamer
and
the
show's
team
had
to
issue
an
apology.
They
were
eventually
forced
to
omit
the
controversial
sequences.
The
grouse
against
the
industry
was
not
limited
to
films
or
series
but
also
advertisements
featuring
stars
like
Aamir
Khan
and
Alia
Bhatt.
While
the
objections
against
Aamir's
ad
for
a
tyre
major,
was
for
his
advice
to
not
burst
crackers
on
the
streets,
Bhatt
was
trolled
for
the
advertorial
for
a
clothing
brand
about
'kanyadaan',
which
was
dubbed
"Hindu
phobic" by
the
right
wing.
Though
such
voices
were
largely
limited
to
social
media,
things
took
a
turn
when
Bajrang
Dal
activists
allegedly
assaulted
filmmaker
Prakash
Jha
and
his
crew
while
they
were
filming
the
third
season
of
the
series
"Aashram"
in
Bhopal.
The
director
was
accused
of
portraying
Hindus
wrongly.
Actor-comedian
Vir
Das
landed
himself
in
trouble
for
his
'I
come
from
two
Indias'
monologue
and
faced
multiple
police
complaints
for
his
six-minute
satire
video.
Similarly,
the
shows
of
comedians
Munawar
Faruqui
and
Kunal
Kamra
shows
were
cancelled
in
Bangalore.
Actor
Kangana
Ranaut
was
among
those
who
called
for
a
strict
action
against
Das,
in
a
year
where
she
herself
saw
multiple
police
complaints
and
a
suspension
from
Twitter.
Ranaut
continued
to
attack
anyone
who
was
anti-establishment,
including
international
pop
star
Rihanna,
who
had
extended
her
support
to
the
farmers'
agitation
as
well
as
Punjabi
actor
Diljit
Dosanjh.
Rihanna,
in
February,
had
criticised
the
Internet
shutdown
at
the
protest
site,
by
tweeting,
"Why
aren’t
we
talking
about
this?" To
counter
her
single
line
tweet,
prominent
Bollywood
stars
and
sports
figures
posted
near
identical
tweets
to
talk
about
"half
truths"
and
"prudence".
In
May,
Ranaut's
Twitter
profile
was
permanently
suspended
due
to
repeated
violations
of
rules
after
the
actor
posted
a
series
of
tweets
following
the
Mamata
Banerjee-led
Trinamool
Congress'
win
over
the
BJP
in
West
Bengal
and
incidents
of
post-poll
violence.
Months
later
in
November,
Ranaut,
known
for
her
often
polarising
inflammatory
remarks,
landed
in
more
trouble
when
she
declared
that
India
attained
"freedom"
in
2014,
when
the
Narendra
Modi-led
government
came
to
power
and
described
the
country’s
Independence
in
1947
as
"bheek",
or
alms.