The Bollywood movie industry has had its share of villains, and Shakti Kapoor has been one both on and off-screen. He has donned many hats as an evil character, but is best known for his villainous character in the epic movie, Andaz Apna Apna. The movie will always be known as a landmark comedy film as Shakti’s ‘Crime Master Gogo’s act became a hit. Just like his on-screen persona being shady, eerie as an antagonist, he is known to be kind off-screen. However, there was a time when Shakti was caught in a casting couch stint that tumbled his career.
Shakti Kapoor, being caught in a casting couch sting operation video, surfaces
Shakti’s long career in the Bollywood film industry came down when he got embroiled in a sting operation done by a famous news channel. A video of Shakti surfaced on Reddit, where he was exposed two decades ago in the 2005 sting operation carried out by India TV on Bollywood stars. A netizen posted the video of the veteran star and shared that the news channel had sent its reporter with cameras and a microphone. The reporter shared that she wanted to work in Bollywood and so came to him for help. As seen in the clip, the actor said that he wanted a favour from the girl and said:
“I want to make love to you, and if you are fine you have to do what I am telling you to do. Shakti Kapoor se Subhash Ghai, Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukerji ke bhi examples diye. Shakti Kapoor news ke pure headline pe. Mei bhagwan nai hu. Mere bhi needs hai.”
Shakti confessed to sleeping with three actresses, and the footage then came on national television and exposed him as he made lewd comments and spoke on a casting couch arrangement to a media professional who had pretended to be an actress. The clip that aired on social media created a ruckus and Kapoor’s reputation got tarnished. His image as an actor was looked down upon, and that created a downfall in his career.
Netizens shared that Shakti Kapoor’s casting couch exposure created a controversy
A Redditor, after seeing the video on Shakti Kapoor, shared, “Every millennial would know this. It was a huge controversy. Many B-level actors were implicated along with him.” Another Redditor commented, “Basically his defence was that he had a huge alcohol issue which led him to lose control. He was pretty upfront and said if a girl is offering herself to me and I am drunk, how can anything other than what happened be expected? A defence while morally repugnant is sound legally as his claim of being entrapped was factual.”
Watch the full video here.
How did Shakti Kapoor react to the allegation against him?
According to a report by Mashable India, Shakti had given a written apology and shared that a political party framed him and a conspiracy was done against him. He also shared that he had asked for forgiveness from the entire movie industry and shared that a doctored video on him was made by a political party. In his words:
“With folded hands, I have apologised to the entire film industry, including Subhash Ghai, Preity Zinta, Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukerji, who are close to me. I had no intention to hurt them. The whole thing was doctored and tampered and, in case they still feel hurt, I am ready to apologise again.”
What are your views on Shakti Kapoor’s casting couch controversy?
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