Meth-en-Scene

“A Bollywood actress makes a serious charge, claiming personal knowledge on a TV channel with a large viewership that 99 per cent of Bollywood consumes narcotic drugs. Not one person from that industry contradicts her. What inference is the public to draw from this deafening silence?” the noted Mumbai-based lawyer asked in a tweet.

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It fell upon an intrepid Raveena Tandon thereafter to defend her fraternity. “Globally, 99 per cent of judges, politicians, babus, officials, cops are corrupt. This statement cannot be a generic description for all. People are intelligent. They can differentiate between good/bad. Few bad apples cannot spoil a basket. Likewise, our industry also has the good and the bad,” she responded.

Nevertheless, it has brought into the public domain what is widely considered to be tinseltown’s worst-kept sec-ret: that beneath its glamorous exterior, there is a closet full of skeletons which everybody in the industry pretends to have never peeped through. As of now, regardless of the ultimate findings of the three central agencies, the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), the probe into the Sushant case appears to have deepened the common perception that the Hindi film industry has turned into a veritable happy-hunting ground of drug addicts and peddlers of all hues. But is there any real ‘substance’ in such allegations and conjectures, or is it merely a case of the industry being more sinned against than sinning?

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The NCB probe is expected to unravel it shortly. The bureau has arrested Sushant’s former girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty (last seen in a Mahesh Bhatt’s home production, Jalebi, in 2018) and based on her interrogation as well as that of other accused, including her brother Showik, it has set out to bust, if it exists at all, an unholy Bollywood-drug cartel nexus. Though not officially confirmed, prime-time television and social media are tentatively reporting that as many as 25 Bollywood personalities, including a few A-listers, may soon be summoned in the case.

Meanwhile, an insider like Kangana, who has been at the forefront of the #JutsiceFor Sushant campaign, has already called Bollywood a “gutter which needs to be cleansed”. The Queen (2014) star, who was among the first to call for a thorough probe into the death of the 34-year-old actor from Bihar who was found dead at his Bandra pad on June 14, has been suggesting that most film stars are drug addicts. And she actually wants some to undergo a medical test. “I request Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Ayan Mukerji, Vicky Kaushik to give their blood samples for drug test, there are rumours that they are cocaine addicts, I want them to bust these rumours, these young men can inspire millions if they present clean samples. @PMOIndia, (sic)” she tweeted, creating a flutter in and outside the industry.

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The actress, in her new guise as a firebrand, added if the NCB enters Bollywood, many A-listers will be behind bars and if blood tests are conducted many shocking revelations will result. “Hope @PMO under swatchh Bharat mission cleanses the gutter called Bollywood,” she tweeted. She further revealed that cocaine is the most popular drug in the industry, which is used in almost all house parties. “It’s very expensive but in the beginning when you go to houses of high and mighty it’s given free, MDMA crystals are mixed in water and at times passed on to you without your knowledge,” she claims.

Kangana also claims that a top star had to be hospitalised a few years ago due to an overdose of drugs. Claiming that the high and mighty of Bollywood feel threatened that she knows their ‘secrets’, she says that when she tasted success and got entry into the most famous film parties, she was exposed to the sinister world of drugs, debauchery and mafia. “I am more than willing to help @narcoticsbureau but I need protection from the centre government, I have not only risked my career but also my life, it is quiet evident Sushanth knew some dirty secrets that’s why he has been killed. (sic),” she said in another tweet.

Kangana has since found support from fellow actor and BJP MP Ravi Kishan, who raised the issue during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament. Expressing concern over the film industry’s connection with drugs, the Bhojpuri superstar said in the Lok Sabha, “NCB is doing very good work. I urge the central government to take strict action, apprehend the culprits soon, give them befitting punishment and bring an end to the conspiracy of neighbouring countries.”

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Fellow parliamentarian and film actor, Jaya Bachchan, however, has taken exception to Kishan’s remarks. In the Rajya Sabha on September 15, the Samajwadi Party MP said that just because there are some people, “you cannot tarnish the image of the entire industry. I am embarrassed that yesterday, one of our members in Lok Sabha, who is from the film industry, spoke against it. It is a shame.”

In a veiled attack on Kangana, Bachchan said that people who have found recognition through the industry have called it a gutter. “I completely disagree and disassociate from it and I hope the government tells those who have made money, name and fame in the industry to stop using such language,” she said, while stating the film industry has always risen to the occasion during natural calamities, also supporting any good deed by the government.

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Responding to Bachchan’s criticism, Kishan says that he expected Bachchan to support his statement. “Not everyone in the industry consumes drugs, but those who do are part of a plan to finish the world’s largest film industry,” he said. “When Jaya ji and I joined, the situation was not like this, but now we need to protect the industry.”

An unfazed Kangana has also asked Bachchan if she would say the same thing “if in my place it was your daughter Shweta (Nanda) beaten, drugged and molested as a teenager.” “Would you say the same thing if Abhishek (Bachchan) complained about bullying and harassment constantly and was found hanging one day? Show compassion for us also,” she tweeted.

Ironically, the Himachal Pradesh-born star herself faces a probe by the Maharashtra police on the charge of drug consumption, initiated by the Uddhav Thackeray government on the basis of an old interview of her former boyfriend, actor Adhyayan Suman. In 2016, Adhyayan had alleged that Kangana had taken him to a party and asked him to take cocaine. Adhyayan now tells Outlook that he does not want to rake up an old issue and whatever he had to say he had said at that time. (See interview, Audi 5). “At that time, nob-ody believed me. I have since moved on and have nothing to do with this issue now,” he says.

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Meanwhile, a video of Kangana rel-eased earlier this year where she claims that she used to be a drug addict has also gone viral. “I ran from my house when I was 15-16. I became a film star and then, a drug addict,” she is shown as saying in the video clip. Kangana’s supporters, however, claim that the Maharashtra police inquiry against her is nothing but an act of vendetta because she has been hitting out at the Uddhav government over the shoddy probe by the state police in Sushant’s death case. They point out how, as part of the retaliation, a portion of her office was demolished by civic authorities.

This is not the first time that Bollywood has come under a cloud over its tryst with drugs. Last year, when film-maker Karan Johar put out a video of a house party featuring top stars and filmmakers, including Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal, Varun Dhawan, Shahid Kapur and Zoya Akhtar on his social media handle, it was alleged that he had hosted a drug party. It had prompted Akali Dal MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa to call for a probe into Bollywood’s links with the drug cartel. Johar and Kaushal later denied the charges. Now, Sirsa has written a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, seeking a probe into the Bollywood star’s drug links. There is, however, no denying Bollywood’s brush with drugs. Actors such as Sanjay Dutt, Ranbir Kapoor, Prateik Babbar and a few others have openly admitted to having used drugs at different points in their lives. Fardeen Khan was once taken into custody while Vijay Raaj (in picture) was reportedly detained at the Dubai airport for alleged possession of drugs. There are other such examples.

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Industry watchers hope that the NCB probe would now blow the lid off Bollywood’s links with the flourishing drug syndicate. “Most young people these days dream of a career in showbiz, but what they often fail to note is that there is a dark side to the glitter,” says film critic Murtaza Ali Khan. “Drug addiction continues to be a major scare, particularly amongst young men and women who are fortunate enough to taste success in showbiz at a young age.”

He says in the West, celebrities have been more vocal about their drug problems. But owing to the taboos associated with drug addiction, Indian celebrities have been mostly silent. “But the recent revelations in the Sushant case has opened up a Pandora’s Box for Bollywood,” he adds.

Khan says already there is conjecture about drug use involving several B-town celebrities and it is only expected to worsen as the investigation progresses. “Regardless of the outcome of SSR’s case, it’s high time that Indian celebrities became more aware of the dangers of drugs. Gone are the days when one could brush aside the issue with casual disdain, especially with government agencies keeping a close eye on Bollywood.” Smoking up has been ‘cool’ for a long time; now, there is a fat price tag on it.?