5th May 2023, Mumbai: Javed Akhtar, the writer and lyricist, expressed feeling “humiliated” after Kangana Ranaut alleged in an interview that he had threatened to ruin her career, leading her to contemplate suicide. Akhtar appeared before a magistrate court on Wednesday to give his testimony in the defamation case that he had filed against the actress.
In response to Kangana’s allegations, Javed Akhtar refuted them and revealed that her statements had caused him considerable embarrassment, prompting him to take legal action against her. He recounted that Kangana had made the remarks during an interview, which took place after the media had widely discussed the topic of “suicide” following the demise of Sushant Singh Rajput.
Javed Akhtar stated that Kangana Ranaut had previously accused him of threatening her, but he had chosen to overlook it. However, during a television interview in July 2020, she added a fabricated claim that he had threatened her with suicide, taking advantage of the media’s recent discussion on the topic following Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. According to Akhtar, Kangana had not made this accusation earlier in the magazine interview. He also pointed out that Kangana had alleged that he was a member of a suicide squad and had tried to force her to commit suicide, which he vehemently denied. Akhtar stated that if her claim was true, she would have mentioned it during her initial statement in the magazine.
Javed Akhtar said that he would have ‘forgotten’ about the televised interview as well, but wasn’t able to because ‘many people had an extreme reaction to it’. He said that he received calls from people in Lucknow, who told him that they didn’t expect this from him. He added, “I was very upset and may have chosen to ignore it. We are lazy people who are concerned with the creative field. It took me 4-5 months to file this case as I saw that it was not going away. I was under tremendous pressure. I was feeling humiliated. People did not let me forget it, and it was getting bigger and more and more embarrassing, so I had to file this complaint.
According to Kangana, her meeting with Javed Akhtar occurred during her public feud with her Krrish 3 co-star, Hrithik Roshan, whom she referred to as her “ex.” However, Hrithik denied any romantic involvement with her. Javed Akhtar, who had a formal relationship with Kangana, attempted to broker peace between the two parties by urging them to apologise to each other. He warned Kangana that the ongoing controversy could harm her career, but she did not heed his advice. Despite their disagreement, they parted ways amicably.
Kangana accused Javed Akhtar of threatening her during a meeting at his residence. She alleged that he warned her that if she did not apologize to the Roshan family, they would ruin her career and ultimately drive her to commit suicide. Kangana repeated these allegations during her court appearance last year in the ongoing defamation case. Javed Akhtar will face cross-examination by Kangana’s lawyer on June 12th.
Article By: Tanya Chantola