Controversial celebs of Bengali film industry

The link between controversy and Bengali film industry seems like an eternal bond. Every year, we witness new and more disturbing controversies dragging the mega stars of Tollywood into turmoil just like any other industry in India. From fighting with each other, be it physically or verbally, drunken incidents, ditching spouses or unfortunate instances of casting couch. Here is a list of few celebrities who made headlines due to their controversies.

Swastika Mukherjee has always been controversy’s most favourite child. In 1998, her eventful journey started when she married Pramit Sen at the age of 18. But an unhappy marriage took its toll early as the couple’s wedlock enjoyed only two years of happiness. Swastika’s love life continued to make headlines, as she was associated with Tollywood hunk Jeet to the charming Parambrata Chatterjee after her divorce. In 2014, the glamour queen again grabbed headlines for her suicide attempt to protest against her lover Sumon Mukhopadhyay's arrest. In the same year in Singapore, CCTV cameras caught her shoplifting a gold earring into her bag, worth Rs 12,139.

Actress Paoli Dam believes boldness is a subjective concept and can be explained as per the education level one has managed. This ideology has often dictated her acting career. Her frontal nude scene along with Anubrata Basu from the movie ‘Chatrak’ rocked not just Tollywood. Paoli’s bold characters in ‘Yaara Silly Silly’ and ‘Hate Story’ managed to stir controversy in Bollywood as well. Last year she married Arjun Deb, a restaurateur from Guwahati.

Rii Sen has always been a part of films that challenge the norms for the past few years. She has acted in her partner Q’s ‘Bishh’, ‘Gandu’ and ‘Tasher Desh’. Apart from ‘Bishh’, which managed to release in cinemas, most of these films rarely saw the light of the day except for special screenings and at festivals and over the internet. All of these films featured sexually explicit scenes, breaking the contemporary mould of Tollywood. When Rii met Q in 2003, she had been modelling for two years and acting in television shows.

Mir, popular for his motormouth RJ persona and entertaining stint as a TV anchor, has always been welcomed with both bouquets and brickbats for his witty mimicry of famous celebrities. For Mir, mimicry is just an “art form” that highlights life and warts, but not everyone feels the same way. Certainly not those who have been on the receiving end of his on-screen jokes. The National Award winning late film-maker Rituparno Ghosh for instance once ripped him apart in a talk show which had Mir himself and the director just tore into his mimicry skills.

It was never official news, but once upon a time Raj and Mimi's love life seemed to be an open secret to almost everyone in the Bengali film industry. The director and actress couple was literally painting the town red with their romance and just when everyone thought they are ready to marry, the breakup news rocked the industry. The couple, who once kept their relationship a secret, didn't hesitate to put an end to it in public. While Raj blamed Mimi for her closeness with a Turkish friend, Mimi strongly denied all the allegations, insisting it was all just a misunderstanding. The celebrated director was later dragged into speculation that he is dating Subhasree.

Talented actor Vikram’s fly-high lifestyle suddenly hit the roadblock last year when he was arrested in connection with his friend and co-passenger model Sonika Chauhan’s death in a car accident. Before this incident, Vikram was receiving a round of applause for his splendid acting but suddenly it was all over for him with the incident tarnishing his image. The actor currently leads a low life after being released by the police last year.