He continued to remain close to politicians and that too has made him plenty of enemies. But Amitabh has survived all of it. Last week he again found himself at the centre of a controversy when a global investigation by journalists across the world following the leak of documents of a tax firm in Panama exposed offshore accounts that had been created in tax havens by the high and mighty across the world.
The newspaper that helmed the investigation in India reported that Amitabh’s name also figured in it. He was the director of four offshore shipping firms in British Virgin Islands and Bahamas. No illegality was imputed by the report, just that his name was present. Amitabh did not respond to the newspaper when they contacted him. A couple of days later he released a statement saying that he had no idea how his name was present in those companies and he had nothing to do with it.
He however also said that it was possible that his name had been misused. His statement said, “I have never been a director of any of the above stated companies. It is possible that my name has been misused. I have paid all my taxes including on monies spent by me overseas...”
Another name that figured in the Panama Papers was that of his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, who was a director of an overseas firm along with her father, mother and brother. But whereas Amitabh clearly denied his involvement while accepting the possibility that his name did feature there, Aishwarya’s response was a bit of a public relations debacle. Her media adviser asked what is the credibility of the organisation that found out the list with the names and flat out said that the information was completely false. She would have been better off taking tips from her father-in-law on how to deal with a controversy.
Suicide pangs
A shocking suicide by a television actress had some unusual repercussions for Priyanka Chopra. Pratyusha Banerjee had shot to fame in a television serial called Balika Vadhu but she became known to a larger audience when she participated in the reality show Bigg Boss that is hosted by Salman Khan.
On April 1, she hung herself from the ceiling fan in her home. Since then, there have been numerous speculations on why she took her own life and many of Pratyusha’s friends blame her boyfriend for it. They say that he was living off her finances and also abusing her. But what also happened was that because many of her friends are actors of reality shows, the tragedy itself became a spectacle with multiple press conferences being called to put forward various theories.
One actress and former Bigg Boss participant, Rakhi Sawant demanded a ban of all ceiling fans because Pratyusha had hung herself on one.
Another Bigg Boss participant, Dolly Bindra harangued Pratyusha’s mother about the death and recorded the conversation to make it public. She also put out photos of Pratyusha’s dead body.
In this profusion of publicity seeking, Priyanka Chopra suddenly found herself in the middle of it. She used to have a secretary once upon a time with whom there was a bitter falling out. After Pratyusha’s death, he took to Twitter to say that Priyanka had also attempted suicide. He tweeted, ‘PC may look very strong now but she was also very vulnerable in struggling days, tried to commit suicide 2-3 times but i managed to stop her.’
He said that she once tried to jump off a building after her then boyfriend’s mother, with whom she had been very close, passed away. While Priyanka herself did not respond, her mother took to Twitter to say that he was a liar and that ‘his old mother and father fell at PC’s feet begging forgiveness.’
Bipasha wedding
It doesn’t seem very far back that Bipasha Basu split with John Abraham. At the time, it was speculated that the reason for the decision was John’s reluctance to commit to something more long lasting.
As things turned out, after they parted ways John got married to someone else while Bipasha continued her single status. That is set to change. It has been confirmed that she is tying the knot with Karan Singh Grover. Bipasha tweeted, ‘We are happy to finally share the good news with everyone. 30th April 2016 is the big day’.
The couple has been going around for two years after they worked together in the sets of Alone. It had been thought for some time that they would get married but for a long time they had kept denying it.
More murky
The spat between Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut gets murkier and murkier. With a criminal case lodged in which Hrithik says someone posed as him to send mails to Kangana, the police have asked for Kangana to give her statement.
Kangana says his statement is all concocted and they had a relationship. She is therefore reluctant to oblige on the police summons. Hrithik maintains that he does not want to target Kangana, merely the imposter. Kangana has now gone on the attack. In a letter to the police commissioner, her lawyer has now accused Hrithik of misusing private mails and photographs she mailed to him.
They have charged him with doing this deliberately to damage her reputation. Her lawyer also said that they are not seeking Hrithik’s arrest at the moment but wanted preventive action taken to protect her image. Kangana also released a statement which said, ‘ I am not ashamed of anything, not my past, not my affairs, not my body and most definitely not my desire.’ She added that attempts to shame her therefore won’t work.
Send your feedback to
[email protected]
Related Story
