Saturday night vibes at filmmaker Karan Johar's party ended on a high – figuratively, speaking. But trust Akali Dal MLA Manjinder S. Sirsa to play a spoilsport by releasing a video and suggesting that several Bollywood actors were flaunting a "drugged state" at the party.
For the record, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Malaika Arora were among the stars spotted at the party, duly attested in the video, originally posted by host K.Jo himself, and snazzily captioned "Saturday night vibes".
So far, Sirsa's allegations that top stars were in a drug-induced high -- thereby setting a bad example as public figures -- has not been refuted by anyone present at the party.
Most among B-Town's crème de la crème are maintaining a studied silence on the issue. The ones who have come out and spoken don't seem very surprised.
Drugs and Bollywood, most of them aver, go a long way. In fact, B-Town's high way to hell is one of the primary things that define the grime beneath the glitz.Sirsa appended to the video the label ‘#UDTABollywood - Fiction Vs Reality,’ a sarcastic dig at Shahid-starrer ‘Udta Punjab’. The MLA also tried to sound preachy and insisted that he was raising his voice against #DrugAbuse by these stars.
Though the actors were yet to comment on the issue, politician Milind Deora refuted Sirsa's claim. "My wife was also present that evening (and is in the video).
Nobody was in a 'drugged state', so stop spreading lies and defaming people you don't know! I hope you will show the courage to tender an unconditional apology," he tweeted.
Twitterati went berserk at Sirsa's tweet. "Let them be stoned or drunk. Why does it bother you?" tweeted Ishita Yadav who is Parliamentary Secretary to Feroze Varun Gandhi.
But there were others who saw in it a deep-seated lifestyle statement. ‘‘It was okay till ‘ganja' was the in-thing, nowadays the industry maxim is if you don't do coke, you are not cool," says rapper Hard Kaur, adding:
"Doing drugs has become a snob thing. Cocaine, after all, is an expensive drug."Kaur states she is talking about "almost everybody I know... just everywhere", and it includes "women and men;" she adds.
"It's like a gang versus gang thing. The ones that stay together snort together."Kaur also points out that many stars feel their fame gives them the licence to do drugs.
"It's almost like I can do what I want (because) I am a star. Apparently, you are supposed to have a sex, drugs and rock n' roll lifestyle,’’ she adds. Veejay Nikhil Chinapa doesn't deny the use of drugs in the film and music industries, but feels it is wrong to only single out these communities.
‘‘The issue of drugs is a social problem. People from the world of sports also have a drug problems. In fact, the world of sports has a big problem with drugs.’’
Bollywood's connection with drugs is nothing new. For decades, whispers have done the rounds about how top quality substance is made available at super exclusive parties, privy to select guests.
Gossip magazines have often cautiously tossed names of small-time actors who have been involved in drug scandals, although names of superstars are hardly ever mentioned.
