SRK, Sallu & Amir keep controversies alive

Things may have been dull at the box office with big budget films like Kites, Raavan and Guzaarish falling flat one after the other but Bollywood stars and their 'politically incorrect' ways more than made up for the lack of spice onscreen in 2010.

The major film controversies revolved around the three Khans —Aamir, Shah Rukh and Salman— and their releases. Aamir's Rancho act in Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots brought audience affection but the film's box office triumph saw the producers and writer Chetan Bhagat fighting over credits. Chetan was upset that his name was given in the last credits while Hirani said the film was partially inspired from the book and the writer had approved everything. Aamir jumped in the ring by calling Bhagat a liar while producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra locked horns with media telling the journalists to 'shut up' when questioned on the controversy only to apologise later. As if 3 Idiots was not enough, Aamir's production Peepli Live was also embroiled in a similar row.

Director Anusha Rizvi and her husband separated themselves from the project over differences with Aamir on credit and promotions. Aamir, who has a reputation of being too interfering as a producer, had also famously fallen out with Amol Gupte during the making of Taare Zameen Par. After his airport detention incident in the US, Shah Rukh continued to dominate headlines. He earned the ire of the Shiv Sena, which threatened to stall the release of the movie after the actor refused to apologise for his comments supporting the inclusion of Pakistani players in IPL.

The issue had the whole industry divided. Many stars including SRK's arch rival Salman came out in the actor's support and commended him for not bowing down to the illogical political pressure but Amitabh Bachchan drew a flak for keeping mum. Salman was another star who was caught with the 'foot- in-the-mouth syndrome' during the release of Dabangg by saying that Pakistan should not be blamed for 26/11 attacks. Salman reportedly told a Pakistani news channel the attacks were a security failure and Pakistan should not be blamed for it but after political parties raised a storm, he apologised.