2020 was the year when Bollywood leapt from the entertainment section to the top of the national news agenda. From Deepika Padukone's visit to JNU at the beginning of the year, the traumatic news of Sushant Singh Rajput's death to Kangana Ranaut's run-in with the Maharashtra government and a host of stars being questioned for their alleged use of drugs, the issues came flooding in this year.
The industry was faced with the brunt of the public's harsh scrutiny rather than the adoring gaze of fandom it was used to. There were no new films as the coronavirus pandemic halted production and theatres closed down, but the Hindi film industry and its stars remained under a relentless spotlight. Here are some of the top "Bollywood" moments from this year.
The news cycle started early in the year when Union minister Piyush Goyal met Bollywood personalities on January 5 for a discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The meeting came close on the heels of major industry people, including Anurag Kashyap and Zoya Akhtar, participating in the nationwide protests against the contentious act.
The very next day, Deepika Padukone set off a firestorm with a surprise visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi to express solidarity with students who were attacked by a masked mob. She did not speak and stood silently behind student leaders but her action led to calls for boycott of her film “Chhapaak".
Union minister Smriti Irani attacked Padukone and said she chose not to stand next to people who wanted the "destruction of India”. The ripple effect of the CAA debate continued, polarising the film industry with acrimonious debates on Twitter and elsewhere.
On June 14, the M S Dhoni: The Untold Story star was found dead in his Bandra apartment. The untimely death of the 34-year-old led his fans to anguish but also with deep angst ridden with questions on nepotism, Bollywood power structures and the gate-keeping attitude of the industry. Many viewers and even some in Bollywood believed Rajput was targeted for being an outsider.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on June 15 tweeted that Mumbai Police would probe the angle of "professional rivalry", which according to reports, was the cause for his alleged "clinical depression".
Among those questioned were Yash Raj Films' top honcho Aditya Chopra, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty.
But that was only the start of it. The case took a political turn when more than a month later, on July 25, Rajput's 74-year-old father KK Singh lodged an FIR against Chakraborty and her family in Patna in connection with his son's death.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended to the Central government that the FIR be transferred to CBI for a probe. A bitter political row between the governments in Maharashtra and Bihar ensued. The two police forces became parties in a case filed by Chakraborty in the Supreme Court. Chakraborty and her brother were subsequently arrested and political parties across the spectrum got into the discourse too as the investigation began.
Premier government agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and the Narcotics Control Bureau, joined the investigation. Rajput's case became the biggest national headline and remained so for months.
The NCB expanded its probe into an alleged use of drugs in the film industry and questioned several Bollywood personalities, including Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh.
As a section of national TV media termed Bollywood "immoral and unlawful", its artistes, particularly the women, were subjected to intense trolling on social media and outside too.
The industry found itself in a lonely battle against top powers in the system, compelling the Producers Guild of India to issue a statement slamming the media coverage of Bollywood and the intense trolling of its artistes.
The fraternity then took the legal route, with major Bollywood producers, including the three Khans - Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir - as well as Karan Johar and Akshay Kumar approaching the Delhi High Court against two TV channels and their editors for allegedly defaming the industry with terms such as "scum" and "druggies".
The lawsuit, by four industry associations and 34 producers, sought the court's direction to TV channels as well as social media platforms to refrain from making or publishing allegedly irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against the industry. It was a rare instance of industry's diverse members coming together.
As Bollywood looked for bigger support in its fight against incessant vilification, actor-MP Jaya Bachchan spoke out in the Rajya Sabha about the negative spotlight and said she completely disagreed with those who termed the entertainment industry a gutter.
As Bollywood was subsumed in conspiracy theories and allegations on Rajput's death, the late actor's family and fans found support in actor Kangana Ranaut, at the forefront of the "Justice for SSR" campaign. She also spoke of alleged drug use in a section of the film industry and went on to criticise Bollywood and even Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his government.
This is for my twitter family pic.twitter.com/KGdJPPWrQ1
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) August 21, 2020
Ranaut likened Mumbai to Pakistan occupied Kashmir and said she feared Mumbai Police. This landed the actor, known to make controversial statements on Twitter, in trouble. The actor then sought for Y-plus category security, which she was then granted. Days later, her office bungalow faced action for illegal alterations by the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
A host of personalities such as Hansal Mehta, Swara Bhaskar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Richa Chadha joined Punjabi stars Diljit Dosanjh, Guru Randhawa and Gurdas Mann to lend solidarity to the protest against three farm bills.
Kangana then got into a public spat on Twitter with Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh. When Kangana shared a photo of an elderly woman protester from the protest against the Farm Bill using derogatory language, Diljit took her to task. What followed was a bitter exchange with Ranaut calling Diljit, filmmaker Karan Johar's "pet", a “bootlicker”.
Respected MAHINDER KAUR JI
— DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) December 2, 2020
Ah Sunn La Ni With Proof @KanganaTeam
Banda Ena V Ni Anna Hona Chaida..
Kush v Boli Turi jandi aa .. pic.twitter.com/Ie1jNGJ0J1
Tuneh Jitne Logon Ke Saath Film Ki Tu Un Sab Ki Paaltu Hai...?
— DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) December 3, 2020
Fer To List Lambi Ho Jaegi Maalko Ki..?
Eh Bollywood Wale Ni PUNJAB Wale aa .. Hikk Te Vajj Sadey
Jhooth bol kar logo ko badhkana aur emotions se khailna woh toh aap achey se janti ho.. https://t.co/QIzUDoStWs
Amid a sustained anti-Bollywood sentiment in the country, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath rolled out an ambitious plan to set up a film city in the state in September, even as Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said it was not easy to shift Mumbai's Film City elsewhere.
(With inputs from PTI)