Image was shared on X. (courtesy: Offladipurush)

As we inch nearer to the top of 2023, there’s a lot to have fun on this planet of leisure. There have been blockbuster hits, Oscar wins and a few much-in-love {couples} exchanging vows. However, when you take away the rose-tinted glasses, you may see that 2023 was not with out its purple flags. From protests over the color of an actress’ bikini to a nation coming collectively to joke about dangerous VFX in a much-awaited movie, the yr has been a rollercoaster experience for stakeholders of the leisure world.

Here’s a fast have a look at among the prime controversies of the yr that had us going, “What?!”

1. What’s in a color – Besharam Rang

When Deepika Padukone stepped out in a bikini in Besharam Rang, the primary track of Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, the web stopped to face and stare. But whereas one part of the web was waxing eloquent about Deepika’s display screen presence and gorgeous dance motion pictures, a bunch of viewers weren’t pleased with certainly one of Deepika’s costumes. The outfit’s color sparked protests and poster burnings by right-wing teams throughout the nation. The Censor Board beneficial revisions, and within the remaining model, the controversial outfit seems in a scene following the contentious Besharam Rang track.

2. A furore of “epic” proportions – Adipurush 

Adipurush was, surely, some of the extensively anticipated movies of the yr. It was an adaptation of The Ramayana, India’s most essential and revered epic. The movie had all the things going for it – a famous person solid headlined by Prabhas and Kriti Sanon, a profitable director – Om Raut and dialogues by Manoj Muntashir. The movie was a sure-shot field workplace superhit till it was not. The movie was closely criticised for lacklustre performances, poor screenplay, dialogues that followers described as lazy and disrespectful and dismal VFX. Dialogue author Manoj Muntashir Shukla introduced revisions to handle viewer issues, as memes concerning the movie and widespread criticism affected the box-office earnings.

Certain solid members of the enduring Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana ( from the late Eighties) corresponding to Sunil Lahri who performed Lakshman, and Dipika Chikhlia who performed Sita, brazenly criticised Adipurush. A petition was additionally filed in search of “revocation of the film certificate of the movie for allegedly distorting sacred texts”. It was dismissed by the Supreme Court.

3. Modifications galore – OMG 2

The affect of the Adipurush debacle was a far-reaching one. Given the furore of the lacklustre adaptation of the Ramayana, Akshay Kumar’s OMG 2, which additionally had a big spiritual theme, went by way of the Revision Committee days earlier than its launch. The assessment resulted in 27 adjustments within the remaining reduce, together with each audio and visible modifications and the movie being awarded an ‘A’ certificates. This got here as a blow to the makers, who have been referring to the significance of intercourse schooling in colleges, with their movie.

4. Warning! “Deep fakes” forward

An instance of know-how rearing its ugly head got here within the type of “deep fakes” that shook business insiders and followers alike. Some of Indian cinema’s largest names – predominantly ladies – have been subjected to the menace of deep pretend. Rashmika Mandanna, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, and Alia Bhatt, amongst others, fell sufferer to the harmful pattern. Big names within the business corresponding to Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Deverakonda, Naga Chaitanya, and Mrunal Thakur, amongst others, highlighted the difficulty, calling for preventive and corrective motion. The matter was additionally talked about as a difficulty that requires consideration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and an investigation is underway in Rashmika Mandanna’s case, which was the primary incident that led to an avalanche of such instances.

5. Salman Khan and the difficult world of gown codes

Let us all simply make peace with it. Salman Khan, controversy’s favorite little one in Bollywood, is simply too cool for gown codes and there’s no downside with this. Some followers even love him for throwing warning to the sartorial winds. But the web had a serious concern with Salman Khan when he appeared to plan his gown codes for girls. Salman’s sturdy opinion (and alleged imposition) on how ladies round him ought to gown got here to gentle when his Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan co-star and debutant Palak Tiwari stated in an interview that Salman Khan had a “rule” for ladies on set. Quoting him, she stated, “Koi bhi ladki mere set pe ho (any girl on my set), neckline should be here (pointing towards the collarbone.) All the girls should be covered, like good proper girls. My mom saw me wearing full tee, joggers, full covered and going to set and she was like ‘how you are dressed so well?’ I told her ‘Salman sir ke set pe rule hai (Salman sir has this rule on set) and she was like ‘Wow! Very good’.”

The feedback gained traction for all of the unsuitable causes, with many slamming Salman Khan for his hypocrisy and problematic views. In an try to clarify himself – and solely making this worse for himself, as per the web – the famous person stated on an episode of host Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adalat, Salman stated, “I feel that a woman’s body is a lot more precious, so as much as it is covered, I feel it’s better.” 

6. Trisha Krishnan Vs Mansoor Ali Khan

One of the largest hits this yr was Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo starring Thalapathy Vijay. While the movie made headlines for being an amazing field workplace success, it additionally made noise for the blatant show of misogyny and glorification of rape tradition by Mansoor Ali Khan, who performs a pivotal position within the film. It all began when Mansoor in an interview, expressed disappointment concerning the absence of “bedroom scenes” with Trisha in Leo. He additionally lamented the shortage of rape scenes in Tamil movies, sparking social media outrage. Several huge names together with Lokesh and Chiranjeevi condemned Mansoor’s remark. The National Women’s Commission additionally filed a police grievance in opposition to the 61-year-old actor, reserving him on fees of sexual harassment and intent to outrage a lady’s modesty for his feedback. After a lacklustre apology from Mansoor Ali Khan, Trisha determined to take the excessive highway by tweeting the Alexander Pope quote, “To err is human, to forgive is divine.”

To err is human,to forgive is divine????????

— Trish (@trishtrashers) November 24, 2023

7. The hug that broke the web – Priyanka & Karan Johar 

Priyanka Chopra made headlines in 2023 when she confirmed rumours that had been circulating for years and said that she had moved to Hollywood as a result of she had beef with folks in Bollywood. She instructed podcast host Dax Shepard: “I was being pushed into a corner in the industry (Bollywood). I had people not casting me, I had beef with people, I am not good at playing that game so I kind of was tired of the politics and I said I needed a break.”

The podcast went viral and fingers were pointed at Karan Johar, who was also pulled up by the internet for an old interview where he admitted to once wanting to “sabotage” the career of another outsider – Anushka Sharma. 

While the internet was talking about Priyanka Chopra and KJo’s “beef” and Reddit pages were abuzz with plausible reasons for the fall-out, the two came face-to-face at the grand launch of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai. The unthinkable happened and the two hugged warmly! The video went viral in no time and the internet had a field day making memes.

8. Nana Patekar slaps a fan [or does he?]

An unflattering video of Nana Patekar hitting what appeared to be a fan asking for a selfie went viral on social media a few months ago. Hours after fans chastised the actor for slapping a fan, director Anil Sharma shared that it was a scene from his new film. “Nana has not hit anyone, rather that is a shot from my film. We were filming it on the road in the middle of Banaras, where a boy who comes near Nana has to be hit on the head. Shooting was going on and Nana also hit him…But the crowd gathered there recorded it on their mobile cameras and then leaked the shot of the film. Now, Nana is being projected as a negative and rude actor on social media, which is completely wrong. Through Aaj Tak, I would request that the fans understand the truth of this video. This is a shot from the film. Nana has not hit anyone,” he told Aaj Tak.

However, in a separate video, Nana Patekar said that he did slap a stranger, taking him for an actor on the set. “I don’t know who the man was. I thought he was from our team. Later we found that this man was different. We tried to find him but he ran away. Probably, one of his friends shot the entire thing. I haven’t turned down any fans for photos so far. This incident happened by mistake. I don’t know where this man came from. If there’s any misunderstanding, please forgive me. I haven’t done anything such yet,” he said in a clip, originally in Hindi. He added that he was ready to apologise to the man in person if he were to meet the young man again.

9. Sonam Kapoor Vs Rana Daggubati: ‘Guess the actress’ gone wrong

Rana Daggubati is one of the most popular names in Indian cinema, for his work as well as his off-screen persona. He is often seen cheering for his colleagues. During one such event where he was promoting Dulquer Salmaan’s King Of Kotha, Rana Daggubati said that “a big Hindi cinema heroine” had once wasted Dulquer’s time by getting on phone calls with her London-based partner while on set. The internet guessed that the Bollywood actress in question was Sonam Kapoor, who is married to London-based businessman Anand Ahuja and worked with Dulquer Salmaan in the 2019 film The Zoya Factor.

Sonam, needless to say, was not happy. However, she kept her comments limited to a cryptic post, which said, “ Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events and great minds discuss ideas…Just a little something I would like some people to know…Especially when discussing things about people that are made up.”

Rana Daggubati followed up with an apology, which – among other things said – “I am genuinely troubled by the negativity that has been aimed at Sonam due to my comments that are totally untrue and were meant entirely in a light-hearted manner. As friends, we often exchange playful banter, and I deeply regret that my words have been misinterpreted. I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt apologies to Sonam and Dulquer, both of whom I hold in great esteem…” 

10. Live Naatu Naatu at Oscars fails 

While Naatu Naatu from RRR won India an Oscar in the Best Original Song category this year, the live performance of the song was criticised.  The dancers who performed, Billy Mustapha and Jason Glover, are not of Indian descent but Canadian and American, respectively. Fans argue that casting non-South Asian dancers undermines the anti-colonial essence of the song. For context, the song is originally portrayed as a dance battle in pre-independence India in the film featuring actors Ram Charan and Jr NTR. In the song, Raju [Ram Charan] and Bheem [Jr NTR], outdancing their British opponents. The irony, therefore, was unmissable.

The silver lining, however, was that the song was sung at the award show by the original voices behind the track, Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. Further, the performance was introduced by India’s sweetheart Deepika Padukone.