‘Ones who snort together, stay together’: Hard Kaur, Nikhil Chinapa weigh in on Bollywood stars’ drugs controversy

Bollywood celebs, PR managers and hotel owners give an insider’s perspective - what happens inside Bollywood parties and if drugs have a part to play.

Akali Dal MLA Manjinder S Sirsa kicked the hornet’s nest on Wednesday when he shared, on social media, a video from a party at filmmaker Karan Johar’s residence, where several Bollywood A-listers are seen in what the politician feels was a state of drug-induced high. Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, and Malaika Arora were among the stars spotted at the party, duly attested in the video, originally posted by Karan himself, and captioned “Saturday night vibes”.

Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal and Malaika Arora were some of the celebs at Karan Johar’s home.

So far, Sirsa’s allegations that top stars as Deepika and Shahid were flaunting a “drugged state” at the party, thereby setting a bad example as public figures, has not been refuted by anyone who was present at the party. Most among B-Town’s crème de la crème are maintaining a studied silence over the issue. The ones who have come out and spoken don’t seem very surprised.

“It was okay till ‘gaanja’ was the in-thing, nowadays the industry maxim is if you don’t do coke, you ain’t cool,” says rapper Hard Kaur, adding: “Doing drugs has become a showoff factor. Cocaine, after all, is an expensive drug.”

 

 

Kaur states she is talking about “almost everybody I know... just everywhere”, and it includes “women and men”, she adds. “It’s like a gang versus gang thing. The ones that stay together snort together.” Kaur also points out that many stars feel their fame gives them the licence to do drugs.

“It’s almost like I can do what I want (because) I am a star. Apparently, you are supposed to have a ‘sex, drugs and rock n’ roll’ lifestyle. I’m not a perfect person you have seen me under the influence of alcohol, but I’m constantly aware of actors and models indulge in these things. Everyone does it,” she adds.

 

VJ Nikhil Chinapa doesn’t deny the use of drugs is rampant in the film and music industries, but feels it is wrong to only single out these communities. “The issue of drugs is a social problem. It is not connected to only the music or film industries. People from the world of sports also have a drug problem. In fact, the world of sports has a big problem with drugs. From what I have read, the major issue with drugs does not concern illegal drugs as much as it concerns pharmacy drugs. People are addicted to painkillers and cough syrups. That is the bigger issue you should talk of. People who take drugs don’t come from a specific sphere of life, and it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor, sportsmen or industrialist, musician or actor or entrepreneur,” feels Chinapa.

Recently, Sanjay Dutt’s name came out in the open in this context, thanks to his biopic, Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Sanju, which elaborately depicted Sanjay’s struggle with drugs. Public image is something that bars Indian film stars from being honest about these things, most stars would tell you. A star’s son who had one of the most promising debuts in 2010, only to subsequently fade away after a self-confessed brush with drug abuse, is not surprised at the latest incident at Johar’s house.

These things, he points out on condition of anonymity, keep happening in Bollywood. “Drugs and Bollywood have a long standing connection. It was more underground and discreet earlier, but today it is increasingly becoming more rampant. It has almost become a necessity. At this rate, we will see OD deaths among Indian celebrities too, as it happens in the West,” he says.

Model-actor Rajneesh Duggall feels the increasingly easy availability of drugs is more threatening than reports of celebrities caught in such incidents. “Drugs are available everywhere. It is up to the individual to indulge in such habits. Drug abuse is not profession-based. It is a personal choice, and everyone from stars to commoners should keep in mind that if it is banned, it shouldn’t be done,” says Duggall.

DJ-actor Siddharth Bhardwaj says drugs freely flow across the party circuit in Bombay. “Like all over the world, drugs are easily available in Bombay, too. But actors should be careful about what they put out on social media. People consider celebrities their idols, so they should set good examples,” he says, about the video being shared online.

A Mumbai-based talent management firm’s owner says,“You cannot have private parties in Bollywood without drugs, anyone in the industry knows. I can recall the parties hosted by a Bollywood couple that has since separated. Drugs would be spread out on a large table and the binging would start. They’d arrange for a wide variety of drugs, and the wives and girlfriends would be part of the merriment, too. I know of several television producers, too, who had their own gangs for exclusive parties.”

“Cocaine rules these days, although smoking pot is also common, so are weed and hash. I see it all the time, at Bollywood’s high-end parties,” says the founder of a PR firm, on grounds of anonymity.

“This is nothing new. Drugs at Bollywood parties have been going on for ages. Roll it, snort it, do it and forget it that’s the mantra,” he sums it up.

Follow @htshowbiz for more