Bollywood actors in controversy

A tongue-in-cheek remark, a social faux pas or even a deliberate attempt to create controversy - Bollywood stars love to hog the limelight - even if it is for the wrong reasons.

Here's a look at some of the stars embroiled in controversies...

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recorded the statement of superstar and Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan in connection with alleged irregularities in holding the IPL season 2.

ED sources said that the actor has been asked to submit documents relating to the buying of players, advertising, profit and loss and share holding pattern of his franchise to the agency in two weeks time.

There have been allegations of ill-gotten funds being channeled into the T-20 contest from foreign tax heavens.

In the past the agency had recorded statements of other prominent personalities related to the BCCI/IPL teams, from players like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and the late Tiger Pataudi.

Coming Up: Controversial Bollywood stars...

Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan might be two of the biggest stalwarts in Bollywood but their superstardom has certainly not translated into an amiable bond.

The two have been in a war of words forever now.

More than a year ago, Aamir wrote on his blog, "Shah Rukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then. What more can I ask for? Now, before you jump to any conclusions, let me add that Shah Rukh is the name of our dog."

Not one to keep quiet, an offended Shah Rukh Khan reacted to this with, "Aamir has lost two of his fans as both my children loved him as an actor."

After more than a year, Aamir Khan apologised at the launch of a coffee table book but not appeasing enough for SRK's ears.

"I haven't apologised to Shah Rukh. But yes, I have apologised to his children," he said.

The legendary rivalry seems far from over but both seem to have mended their act publicly, at least for the time being.

"My best wishes for Shah Rukh and his team for RA.One. Lot of hard work and money has been put in; I hope the effort pays off. Hope the film gets due success," Aamir was quoted saying earlier this month.

It wouldn't be incorrect to call Baadshah Shah Rukh the Baadshah of controversy as well for the actor appears to repeatedly court trouble.

In 2010, his comments on Pakistani cricketers didn't find favour with Shiv Sena who threatened to disrupt the release of his hit film My Name Is Khan, which was then under production.

At the time Shah Rukh was also detained at a US airport , which led to another war of words of another with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh calling it a ‘publicity gimmick'.

"He is garnering publicity for his forthcoming film My Name is Khan," he said.

Shah Rukh reacted to this in a press conference saying, "Amar Singhji is not in good health. So I pray to God to give him physical and mental strength."

Shah Rukh had earlier courted trouble for himself being too candid and outspoken.

"I always wanted to be a porn star. I am going to work very hard, positively, with clarity to be a porn star. I will take my flag and put it up in America as the biggest porn star of the world,” he had said.

Prior to that SRK's home production, originally titled Billu Barber, faced serious objections from salon and beauty parlour associations who said that the word "barber" in the title of the film was derogatory. Shah Rukh had to eventually remove the word from the title and promotions, renaming the film Billu.

And while Shah Rukh's detention might have won him national sympathy, industry counterpart and once-friend Salman Khan, was cleary not impressed.

Salman Khan took a jibe at SRK by saying , "There is no big deal about it. We all wait for hours and get frisked at airports. It's because of their strict checking."

And pat came Shah Rukh's reply, "Everyone has his own experience. It happens with him so it's nothing new for him."

Mallika Sherawat put up some pictures of herself at the Los Angeles premiere of Inglourious Basterds on Twitter perhaps trying to stay fresh in her fans memories.

But little did she realise what lay in store especially as she dressed for the premiere in the way she did.

The actress had one of her worse fashion outings in the revealing dreadful outfit, which many called a fashion crime.

A day later, however, she had learnt her lesson and showed up for an event in a D&G formal suit.

A smash hit at the box office, the song Choli Ke Peeche from Khalnayak created a huge controversy because of its lyrics.

Madhuri Dixit's comeback film Aaja Nachle also received flak over the use of word of mochi in a song.

There were violent protests in UP and a few other states after which the producers had to re-edit the song.

Actress Sonam Kapoor might not have quite created her mark at the Box Office but she sure speaks Bollywood fluently.

The actress raked up a huge controversy when she commented on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan saying, "We belong to two different generations."

And if that wasn't enough, according to reports, she even went ahead and said, "Ash has worked with my dad so I have to call her Aunty na?"

Wait, there's more! Post Ash, Sonam took a dig at author Shobha De.

"For a 60-something porn writer, I am sure she (Shobha) knows what she's talking about," Sonam said.

The fiery Shobha De, not one to be left behind, commented on Sonam's sex appeal saying, "Sonam just doesn't cut it in the sex appeal stakes."

After stirring a hornet's nest by allegedly posing almost nude for a Norwegian magazine, Negar Khan again courted controversy by appearing scantily clothed in a music video.

Controversy's favourite child, Mandira Bedi has always invited trouble, be it by draping a Tricolor saree or wearing a religious tattoo.

The actress turned sports commentator now prefers staying away from the media!

Sex siren Sherlyn Chopra isn't the shy kinds and it shows.

The model and actress made headlines when said something which is perhaps best described sensational in an interview.

I don't believe in sticking to the normal of 1:1 ratio thing. If you can heighten your pleasure in a ratio of 1: 3 or 2: 4, then why not? Do you think the Indian male is well-equipped to satisfy me?" she had said.

Saif Ali Khan's little sister and actress Soha Ali Khan courted trouble for illegally owning a gun in 2008.

The gun licensed in the name of Soha Ali Khan was found amongst the firearms seized from the late Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's Delhi residence in 2005.

Her father, late Mansoor Pataudi was accused of using the gun to kill endangered blackbucks at Jhajjar along with seven others at the time.

Bollywood's Dulhan Katrina Kaif was embroiled in a controversy when she chose to wear a short skirt during her visit to Ajmer Sharif.

The actress, however, is wiser in hindsight and has since visited the mausoleum in burkha.

Khiladi Akshay Kumar has courted his share of controversies from time to time. First the actor drew criticism when he sported a French beard in his outing as Happy Singh in the blockbuster Singh is Kingg hit the screens.

He drew the ire of the Sikh community, who was unhappy that the actor, who played a Sikh in the film, wore a traditional pagri while sporting a French beard.

Akshay also unbuttoned quite a controversy as the ambassador of a jeans brand.

After walking the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week in 2009 for designer Tarun Tahiliani, he climbed down the ramp and went to wife Twinkle and asked her to unbutton his jeans.

As Twinkle unbuttoned and the crowd cheered, Akshay kicked off a storm of sorts.

A complaint was lodged against the actor and organisers and Akshay Kumar later apologised for his act.

Aamir Khan's support to Narmada Bachao Andolan led to the burning of posters and effigies of the actor. Lending support to the Andolan, Aamir had said, "As a concerned Indian citizen, I have come here to lend my support to these poor Adivasis who will lose their land and will be displaced from their homes if the height of the dam is raised."

Perfectionist Aamir Khan drew severe criticism as he condemned the Amitabh Bachchan-Rani Mukherjee starrer, Black. His comments are also said to have caused a rift between the two actors.

"I didn't like the film. I found it very insensitive, it sends out very wrong signals. It was extremely manipulative. I could see the effort in the manipulation, and the art of the director is in not letting you see the manipulation. The sensibility wasn't right for me, I couldn't make out if they were living in a house or a museum or a library or a church. The performances were over the top," Aamir said in an interview.

He further said, "Black reminded me of The Taming Of The Shrew, and I found that very disturbing. It was a film about ‘I can teach a bear how to dance.'"

An angry Big B, reacted strongly saying, "I failed to understand how a polio affected person can bowl as shown in Lagaan and the insensitivity shown towards a blind girl played by Kajol in Fanaa.

Aamir's 3 Idiots too was involved in a controversy for allegedly promoting ragging, but the actor rubbished all such claims.

Salman Khan has been synonymous with controversy for long now. From his relationships to his hot-temper to the alleged hit-and-run case, the Bodyguard has built quite an image over the years.

Salman has also made headlines for roughing up reporters and his purported underworld links. The actor was also found guilty of poaching.

On September 28, 2002, Salman allegedly drove over four pavement dwellers, killing one, in a drunken haze. The actor was subsequently released on bail.

He was also fined and jailed in the for killing two blackbucks in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in 1998. He was later released on bail.

Shilpa Shetty landed herself in a major soup when Hollywood actor Richard Gere dared to kiss her in a charity function.

Shilpa also entered into another controversy with author and scriptwriter Farrukh Dhondy who had commented that racial remarks on her in British TV reality show Celebrity Big Brother was a drama and gimmick.

To this, Shilpa had said, "Farrukh Dhondy has made a statement that I'm a fake. How dare he? How dare he take away the fact that I'm representing my country in Britain? A lot of Indians in Britain are very irked by his criticism of me.

From kissing singer Mika to launching her reality show Rakhi Ka Swayamwar, Rakhi has surely lived up to the controversy queen tag.

She also almost married on TV on the show Rakhi Ka Swayamwar, and drew flak for trying to solve the problems of the common man without any legal involvement or expertise, in Rakhi Ka Insaaf.

The latter gained notoriety after one of the participants of the show committed suicide on being called impotent by the actress and was later pushed off prime time for usage of adultery words.

While Salman was the main accused in the poaching case, Saif Ali Khan was also questioned by the forest department and the police as he had accompanied Salman.

They were taken into custody and released on bail in October 1998 in Jodhpur.

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan was accused of violating an agreement to build a girls' college in Barabanki, UP.

The college was announced by the superstar in January, 2008 and he had said it would be named after his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Big B's 2010 film Rann also courted controversy because of its title track, which was a remixed version of the National Anthem.

Bollywood starlet Monica Bedi came in the limelight not because of her movies but for her relationship with the underworld don Abu Salem. The duo spent 39 months in a Portuguese prison and later were extradited in November 2005.

Women may swoon when John Abraham bares his basics. But a court in Delhi was not so impressed. The Bollywood hunk almost got into serious trouble for a full monty photograph from his 2009 film New York that was published in a city newspaper.

Hrithik Roshan might play a cool dude more often than not on the screen but the actor showed why he could don the role of an angry young man just as well.

Visiting Shirdi to take blessings before the release of Kites Duggu lost his cool and lashed out at a few cameramen and reporters as they tried to get too close to the actor and his family.

With her views on pre-marital sex, actress Khushboo has caused a storm in Southern Indian states. She said in an interview, "Pre-marital sex is okay provided safety measures are followed to prevent pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases."

She also added, "No educated man today would expect his wife to be a virgin." She later apologized for her comments.

Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan's off-handed remark snowballed into a controversy. While promoting a film she said, "We are from Uttar Pradesh and should speak in Hindi."

Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Shiv Sena launched a scathing attack on her.

Finally, the actress apologised and withdrew her comments.

Fardeen Khan was nabbed by the Narcotics Control Bureau when he went to meet Naseer, allegedly a drug peddler, who was waiting for him there, to supply him with cocaine.

Pooja Bhatt courted controversy for her famous body paint act, which she got done on her 18th birthday.
Her body paint pictures, which were inspired by the work of Demi Moore, made Pooja a controversial name in the traditional Indian media.

Fardeen's brother-in-law DJ Aqeel, was also arrested in Dubai for possession of banned drugs.
His family, however, continued to deny that he was mixed up with drugs.

Farah Khan Ali, Aqeel's wife, defended her husband saying that he does not do drugs and the drugs were planted on him.

There were protests against the film Mustafa because the lead character played by Nana Patekar had shades of grey. The name of the film was later changed to Ghulam-E-Mustafa. There was another controversy around the posters of the film. The name Mustafa (one of the many names of Prophet Mohammed) appeared below the shoes of Nana Patekar on the poster.

Himesh Reshammiya's Hari Om Hari Om in Karzzzz got into trouble as the Censor Board objected to semi-clad girls dancing to the song in the film.

Bollywood actor Vijay Raaz, who has worked in films like Monsoon Wedding, had been arrested in Dubai for possessing drugs (charas).

The actor was shooting in Dubai for Vikram Bhatt's film Deewane Hue Pagal at the time.

Vivek Oberoi did what few actors have done in Bollywood. He challenged and openly badmouthed stalwart Salman Khan in a press conference.

While Salman didn't comment, Vivek realised his folly soon enough and later apologised for his remarks but the Bigg Boss hasn't relented.

Actress Rani Mukherjee landed in a controversy over a piece of land that she purchased near Shirdi.

The Maharashtra government, however, had other plans and they declared the purchase illegal.

Sanjay Dutt got into a controversy for illegal possessions for arms.

The actor was arrested under TADA and sent to jail.

After being convicted by the High Court, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India.

In February 2010 actress Jaya Prada was expelled by Samajwadi Party on grounds of indulging in anti-party activities and denting its socialist image.

The decision was taken at the SP parliamentary board meeting chaired by the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.