Poonam Pandey to Munawar Faruqui; biggest controversies of Lock Upp contestants

Kangana Ranaut kick-started Lock Upp on February 27, with a list of 13 controversial contestants. The show with a unique concept that will challenge the contestants to survive with the bare minimum facilities in a prison-like setup is streaming on MX Player. Poonam Pandey, Sara Khan, Nisha Rawal, Swami Chakrapani Maharaj, Munawar Faruqui are on the contestant list. Surprisingly, most of the contestants have been in the news for much-debated reasons. Here’s a look at who out of the Lock Upp contestants made headlines for what:

Stand up comedian, Munawar Faruqui, who has joined Lock Upp, was in news owing to his arrest last year. It was during his stand-up tour in India that he was arrested in a case for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and spent a month in jail. Munawar was arrested in Indore, Madhya Pradesh after a complaint of making malicious jokes about Hindu deities and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah was registered against him. The accuser claimed that he had overheard Munawar’s ‘hurtful’ joke during his rehearsal. Apparently, the comedian was arrested even before he could perform the act. His arrest was heavily criticised for not respecting a comedian's freedom of speech.

Actress and model, Poonam Pandey courted controversies for her posting revealing pictures and videos on social media. She rose to media spotlight when she promised to strip for the Indian cricket team if they won the 2011 world cup. However, she didn’t do the same owing to public disapproval. Later, Poonam had shared a striping video at the Wankhede Stadium after Kolkata Knight Riders won IPL 5. Another of her stint that garnered immense public attention was a sex tape that she posted with her then-boyfriend, on Instagram. The video was deleted by her later. Poonam got married to her long time boyfriend Sam Bombay in 2020. She later filed a domestic violence complaint against him, on the grounds of which he was arrested too. The list of controversial moments of Poonam Pandey goes on. In the latest, the actress was accused of involvement in the porn film racketing controversy scandal. She was given protection by the Supreme Court of India.

Nisha Rawal’s separation from husband Karan Mehra was on the public radar. The actress had accused him of domestic violence and an extramarital affair. Nisha also called for a press conference where she showed the bruises on her head and claimed Karan of hurting her physically. On the other hand, Karan said that Nisha had created the entire scene to portray him wrongly and extract a large amount of alimony.

Self-proclaimed Swami, Chakrapani Maharaj courted controversies for hosting ‘gau mutra party’ during the initial days of COVID-19 lockdown. He claimed that drinking cow urine could treat coronavirus. Previously during the Kerala floods, Chakrapani Maharaj publicly opposed the help being provided to the survivors who were beef eaters.

Bigg Boss fame Payal Rohatgi made headlines for her objectionable remarks against Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi & Rajiv Gandhi in a video shared on social media. She landed up in legal trouble after a complaint was registered against her over the same. An FIR was registered against the actress-model for her defamatory words. Also, she was blocked on Twitter for spreading fake news and fringe theories and later got unblocked. In 2020, her account was permanently suspended.

Political Analyst, columnist and entrepreneur who participated as a wild card contestant in Bigg Boss 13 made headlines due to his ugly fallout with brother Shehzad. Owing to the differences between them, Tehseen ended all his relations with Shehzad and announced the same with a tweet.

Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai fame Sara Khan is another Lock Upp contestant who courted controversies with her wedding on national TV. The actress tied the knot with Ali Merchant on Bigg Boss. But divorced him only 2 months after the wedding. People claimed that the couple got paid to get married on TV. However, both of them and the channel denied the same.

Wrestler turned politician, Babita Phogat created headlines with her tweet wherein she claimed that Tablighi Jamaat is a bigger problem than COVID-19. This led her into trouble as Twitterati asked for her account to be suspended.