HIDDEN TRUTHS OF HINDI CINEMA FROM STRAYING PARTNERS AND STAND-INS TO STEALING SONGS AND SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS by ASJAD NAZIR Earlier this year, Bollywood film Why Cheat India put the spotlight on dishonest methods prevalent in the country’s exam system. There are also regular news stories relating to cheating, including in the Indian film industry. These dodgy dealings led Eastern Eye to look at different types of cheating in Bollywood over the years, including some that will come as a surprise and others that were not so apparent. Straying partners: Plenty of high-profile stars have been caught cheating on their respective partners across different decades. In fact, unfaithful A-list stars can be traced back all the way to the 1930s when actress Devika Rani cheated on her producer husband Himanshu Rai with her leading man Najmul Hassan. During the 1950s, Raj Kapoor and Nargis were the hottest onscreen couple in Bollywood who were also having an affair in real life, but he was unwilling to leave his wife and they broke up. Pretty much every single decade since then there have been very famous men and women who have cheated on their respective partners. Stealing stories: Today, we have entered the era of official Bollywood remakes of Hollywood hits, but for decades, that was not the case and naughty Indian film producers happily copied stories from the west without asking for permission. This includes blockbuster hit Raaz, which was inspired by What Lies Beneath and sparked off a whole horror franchise. Most major Bollywood stars have acted in ‘unofficial’ remakes of Hollywood films including Shah Rukh Khan (Baazigar), Aamir Khan (Ghulam), Salman Khan (Partner), Amitabh Bachchan (Main Azaad Hoon), Ajay Devgn (Main Aisa Hi Hoon), Priyanka Chopra (Aap Ki Khatir) and so many more. It hasn’t just been limited to…
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