Raj Kundra’s Arrest Opens Bollywood’s Pandora Box Of Adult Films & More
Ranked as the 198th richest British Asian by Success Magazine in 2004, he became a household name when he married Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in 2009. Today Raj Kundra’s name is flashing all across the news again as he was arrested for producing and promoting adult film content through his app, Hotshots.
Various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, make producing pornographic movies in India an offense.
As reported in the news the Mumbai Police received complaints from more than one woman of being lured into starring in adult content for Raj Kundra’s app Hotshots, which is currently owned by a UK firm. This UK-based company was allegedly set up by Kundra and his brother and registered there so it could evade Indian cyber-laws, where laws against publishing and transmitting “obscene material” are tougher.
The adult film industry saw a boom during the lockdown phase. Films were shot in houses and hotels rented in and around Mumbai. Models were allegedly pulled in with promises of film or web series offers and then forced to shoot porn. Once the films were shot, they were made available on mobile apps, offering subscriptions on the lines of mainstream OTT platforms. Social media was extensively used to target audiences and promote the app.
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Hotshots has now been removed as a mobile platform by both Apple and Google due to pornographic content. The police have reported that they have found proof in the form of agreement papers, email accounts, WhatsApp chats, and pornographic clips from Raj Kundra’s office.
Apps like Ekta Kapoor owned, Alt Balaji has also been under the scanner for promoting ‘porn’ in the name of ‘erotica.’
In 2015, Raj Kundra was banned for life from all cricket-related activities in India following an investigation into match-fixing during his stint as the co-owner of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals with Shilpa Shetty.
Once again Bollywood finds itself unfamous. From drugs last year to now porn, the notorious underbelly continues to thrive even after the #MeToo movement rattled the cage.
