E-Paper
Subhash Ghai, Anees Bazmee in casting couch scandal
A book circulating at the ongoing MAMI Festival has led to a controversy in the film industry. Rina Golan, the Jerusalem-born and New York-raised author of Dear Mr Bollywood in her 119-page biography claims...
The ongoing Mumbai Film Festival has seen an unprecedented quantum of controversy already. Dear Mr Bollywood - a book circulating at the fest has opened a can of worms in film industry.
"The author, Jerusalem-born, New York-raised Rina Golan, has named industry veterans Subhash Ghai, Anup Jalota, Anees Bazmee and even Dr Ali Irani in her 119-page biography, where she claims they have all asked her for sexual favours in passages that are not fit to print in this publication for their explicit content," reports Mumbai Mirror.
Reportedly when the tabloid reached the four prominent industry biggies, they denied the allegations vehemently, with some of them rubbishing the book as a cheap publicity trick and others even denying having met her.
Here're reactions of the four high-profile personalities Mumbai Mirror quotes in its report:
Dr Ali Irani (Head of the department of physiotherapy and sports medicine, Nanavati Hospital): SRK sent her to me as she needed some financial help. SRK had deposited some money with us to treat patients when they come to him. However, when she came to me, she wanted money for her education and not for treatment. I never introduced her to anyone. I told her that we can't help her and that's about it. She can write whatever she wishes and I have got nothing to do with it.
Subhash Ghai (Producer, Director): I am not aware of any book like this and can't recall this name. If you say that derogatory things have been said by her about me, it's her choice. In our profession we do get bouquets and bricks all the time from known and unknown both. We can't even react.
Anees Bazmee (Director):
I have never even heard the name of this girl. It is the cheapest level of publicity that anyone can get and I have been in the industry for 35 years. I have never ever been accused of anything like this before. Neither am I aware of any such book nor do I know this girl. If she says that she met me during the shoot of my film Thank You, then there are at least 200 people on the sets of my film. And whenever anyone comes to meet us, we meet all of them with utmost love and respect. I think it is in very bad taste and an attempt to malign my reputation.
Anoop Jalota (Singer):
I am not denying the fact that I know this girl. She had worked and done many shows with me as a chorus singer....She used to also play key board and she played that as well. I think she was a part of my group 2-3 years back and she was here to start some business. But I guess that didn't happen and she left. I have not even spoken to her in the last 2-3 years."
