Ravi Kishan responds to Anurag Kashyap's claims of smoking weed
Amid the ongoing controversy about allegations of drug abuse in Bollywood, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap recently claimed that Member of Parliament and actor Ravi Kishan used to smoke weed. Now, Ravi has said he did not expect such a statement from the director and is "saddened" by it. Notably, the MP had recently spoken about drug abuse in the Parliament. Here are more details.
Ravi used weed for the longest period of time: Anurag
In a recent interview, Anurag had said he does not agree with Ravi's "self-righteous" stand against the film industry and the Indian youth's drug problem. He said Ravi starts his day by chanting the words, "Jai Shiv Shankar," and "Jai Shiv Shambhu," adding he has used weed "for the longest period of his time." "Everybody knows it. The whole world knows," he had said.
"He might have cleaned up after becoming minister"
"There is not a single person who doesn't know that Ravi Kishan does not smoke up. He might have quit now, that he has become a minister, he might have cleaned up," Anurag added in the said interview.
Saddened that Anurag wouldn't support me, Ravi said
Responding to Anurag's claims, Ravi said, "I did not expect such words from Anurag Kashyap. It's no secret I am a devotee of Shiva so I chant his name." He said he is saddened that Anurag would not support him on this issue and instead "say that I smoked up and am now clean just because I am a minister, which I am not."
"One must think a thousand times before speaking"
Ravi, who has acted in Anurag's 2017 movie Mukkabaaz, added, "I do not need to justify what I currently do or used to do. It is my humble request to you Anurag 'babu.' You know I respect you. You must understand what I am saying." "One must think a thousand times before thinking or speaking anything. This goes for him too," he told ANI.
Ravi had recently spoken about drug issue in parliament
Earlier, Ravi, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, had engaged in a war-of-words with Samajwadi Party leader and veteran actor Jaya Bachchan over the issue of alleged drug abuse in the film industry. He had said, "Drug addiction is in the film industry too...The NCB has been doing very good work." He also urged the government to take "strict action" against the culprits.
Jaya had called it a 'conspiracy to defame Bollywood'
After Ravi's speech, Bachchan said that the entire controversy was a "conspiracy to defame the film industry." "People in the entertainment industry are being flogged by social media. People who made their names in the industry have called it a 'gutter.' I completely disagree," she said. Notably, actor Kangana Ranaut, while alleging drug abuse in the film industry, had earlier called it a "gutter."
Sushant died in June. NCB held Rhea and others
The allegations have come at a time when the Narcotics Control Bureau is investigating a drugs case related to actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Sushant had died in an apparent suicide on June 14 at the age of 34. The NCB has held actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother, some staff members of Rajput, as well as a number of drug peddlers in the case.
