Actor Shatrughan Sinha has taken a dig at Koffee with Karan, calling it ‘Koffee with Arjun’, and has said that the show has led to controversies. He said that shows such shows did not exist back in the day.
“During our era, there was no Koffee with Arjun,” he said, making an indirect statement about Karan Johar’s show. “These kinds of planned events are what cause controversies. As far as those who are being talked about at the moment are all members of our own society, but film industry doesn’t belong to one person that anyone can say, ‘Let’s boycott this person’ or ‘remove this person from the industry.’” He added rhetorically, “Who are you to say that? How did you enter the industry and what have you done in life?”
Karan has been accused, most vocally by Kangana Ranaut, of poking fun at actor Sushant Singh Rajput and favouring young actors belonging to influential film families over outsiders. Sushant died by suicide on June 14, at the age of 34. He was said to be suffering from depression, and the Mumbai Police are investigating the professional rivalry angle as well.
Shatrughan’s own daughter, actor Sonakshi Sinha, was at the receiving end of social media backlash after Sushant’s death, mainly for being a ‘product of nepotism’. Sonakshi subsequently quit Twitter.
Earlier in the day, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap told NDTV that while Karan Johar certainly has the power to launch a newcomer successfully, even he can’t kill someone’s career. “A Karan Johar can make somebody’s career… by launching (him/her) in a big film. Because he’s not just a filmmaker, he’s also a businessman. He understands. But he cannot break anyone,” Anurag said.
Kangana claimed that Karan ‘dumped’ Drive and spread the word that Sushant was a ‘flop star’, whose films could not find buyers. She also said that Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions “systematically work with each other and in sync with each other – whom to promote, whom to demote, whom to destroy.”
