Bengali celebs’ most controversial statements of 2019

Be it good or bad, right or wrong – we always keep a tab on celebrities not only on screen but even in real life as well. Like any of us, celebrities, too, often speak their minds and even create uncomfortable situations saying something unexpected or unusual. While we have heard so many gossips about these celebs, let’s take a look at something we have never heard of. Let’s take a look at some of the most surprising statements made by some of the popular stars in Tollywood.

Director Aniket Chattopadhyay continues to take a dig at Gumnaami baba — the godman who has been rumoured to be Netaji and on whom director Srijit Mukherji is making his next film with Prosenjit Chatterjee in titular role. Aniket has come up with a series of Facebook posts trying to expose the mysterious man who settled in Faizabad.

“Having read many books on the Gumnaami baba, I clearly believe that he was an imposter. Srijit is a one of my favourite filmmakers and I am sure that he too will show the man as a fraud. Let alone any concrete or circumstantial evidence, whatever this man said makes it evident that he was either an imposter or a devil. For example, he claimed to have first gone to Russia where he started working on a classified Russian project against China. Russians were very happy with his work. Then he went to China. In 1956-57, he, along with (Adolf) Hitler and (Heinrich) Himmler, entered Uttar Pradesh through Nepal. He also told Ho Chi Minh how to fight the Americans. He suggested Mao Zedong to take allopath medicine for Alzheimer’s. And finally, he claimed that Mujibar Rahman had died because he disobeyed him. He apparently had a country in Himalaya and that was not a part of Russia or China. From there, he used to keep a watch on the surrounding nations and also Mediterranean Sea. Any sensible human being will be convinced that someone making such claims is a fraud,” Aniket had said earlier in an interview.

After a group of Bengali actors joined BJP, noted filmmaker Aparna Sen claimed they were leaving a "sinking ship" and drifting towards power. She added the actors were with the CPI(M) when it was in power, supported Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee when she became Chief Minister of West Bengal and are now switching over to BJP when it is gaining ground. "Now that Mamata is slowly losing ground and the BJP is gaining, they are going to the BJP. Where there is power, they will go. There are people like that. I don't care about them, I don't think about them," said the critically acclaimed actor-filmmaker.

After its release earlier this year, Anik Dutta’s ‘Bhobishyoter Bhoot’ was pulled off from theatres across Bengal. Social media was flooded with reactions against such a shocking decision. As celebs like Srijit Mukherji, Abir Chatterjee and many others raised their voices Soumitra Chatterjee too was surprised. He called the taking off of the film 'vindictive' and 'undemocratic', and a ‘fascist policy’.

He even wrote a letter to director Anik Dutta. Criticising the incident he wrote: “I am stunned to see that ‘Bhobishyoter Bhoot’ screening has been stopped the day after it released. I think it’s like revenge. There is every possibility that the comments Anik Dutta made during the last Kolkata International Film Festival has made the administration take such decision. I can’t find any suitable words to criticise it. Will there be no media for freedom of speech? Will there be nothing in cinema that the administration doesn’t like? I strongly oppose this fascist policy. I hope those who are responsible will soon understand it’s against democracy and solve the matter.”

Parno Mittra recently took a dig at Kaushik Sen, Aparna Sen, and others for selective outrage. Parno, who recently joined BJP, said, "Lynching is wrong. But you can’t blame one party for lynching. Then you are not well-aware of the events. I am not politically as conscious as Aparna Sen, Anjan Dutt or Kaushik Sen. But as a human being, I understand that lynching is absolutely unacceptable. However, you can’t put a colour to it." Although people who have written the open letter called themselves apolitical, according to Parno, "their selective amnesia is politicizing the matter".

Kaushik Sen urged Parno Mittra to know his integrity before questioning him. He explained Parno is an artiste first and she is sensitive, so she has to think beyond parties in reality. The versatile actor further asked: Does Parno know about the Right to Information Act? Does she know how BJP successfully processed a bill which says that on the basis of suspicion, anyone can be arrested? He reminded her of his previous stands on such issues and how he stood behind the doctors during the recent strike and how he fought against the then ruling communists in 2007. We have always been questioning the authority when needed and we will continue to do so. No threats can change that, he concluded.