Hitting headlines for the wrongs reasons!

By: Poonam Bisht Amitabh Bachchan, the man loved and revered in India, has seen phenomenal success. But being a celebrity (and that too of Amitabh`s stature) has its own pros and cons. With praise comes the criticism also for the reel life performance as well as the real life drama. The most popular person of the country has had his share of controversies. Not so good political stint:With his popularity at its peak, Amitabh entered politics in 1984 at the insistence of his long-time buddy Rajiv Gandhi. He won Allahabad’s Parliament seat defeating H N Bahuguna, a well-known politician by a large margin. But he soon realised that politics was not his cup of tea. His name appeared in the Bofors scam though he was not implicated. He then decided to quit, even before completing full term as MP, commenting that he "should have never got into politics". Bachchan-Gandhi feud: Bachchan family fell apart with the Gandhi family ever since the death of Rajiv Gandhi, although Amitabh has always vehemently denied any connection. The ties between India`s two celebrity families and one-time close allies further severed when Bachchans grew close to Congress’ rival Samajwadi Party. Amitabh’s open support for Mulayam Singh Yadav became the prime irk in the Grand Old Party’s eyes. Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s remark that Bachchans ditched Gandhis after his father’s death added fuel to the fire prompting Amitabh to break his silence and state that it was in fact the Gandhis who left them. This was followed by the series of accusations between the two sides. So much so that for every succeeding trouble faced by Amitabh, SP leader Amar Singh would put the blame on Congress. Amar Singh also blamed Sonia coterie for prevailing upon the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) to prevent Amitabh from inaugurating the festival at Goa, a charge that was vehemently denied by Congress. Tax troubles: Amitabh Bachchan, one of the highest tax payers in the country faced taxing times recently when the tax authorities reportedly sent him notices accusing him of tax evasion and cover-up deals. But the Bachchan side alleged Congress hand behind it and denied these allegations. When the news about his family`s tax returns was leaked, his fans and SP supporters went berserk and held vast demontrations at the Mumbai tax offices and in various parts of the country, including his home-town, Allahabad. The Bachchans said that they have regularly paid taxes and their contribution to the Mumbai tax kitty is the highest in the category of HNI. Later, the tax authorities denied having send any notices to him. Weeks later, the Tax Department also slapped a notice against his wife, Jaya. Actor-turned-Agriculturist! Amitabh got into another controversy a few months ago over the purchase of eight hectares of land in Pol village, in the upstream of Pavna Dam. The actor had presented his status as an ‘agriculturist’. He was given time until March 30 by the Maval SDO to submit the original documents proving his status. However, the matter was resolved following submission of the original document to the Maval sub-division office (SDO) showing that the film star owns agricultural land in Barabanki, Fatehpur taluka of Uttar Pradesh. No smoke without fire Amitabh got into fresh trouble yet again, but this time it was for an unexpected reason. He was sent a notice by National Organisation for Eradication of Tobacco-India for appearing in a promo of his film Family, with a cigar dangling between his lips. The organisation threatened to take legal action against the superstar. The notice said the promo violated the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. Amitabh finally apologised in a written note and said it was done without his knowledge and the responsibility was with the producers of the film. Despite all the controversies that Amitabh Bachchan found himself surrounded with, there never was any dearth of support of the public for their hero. Their love and respect for him has been growing with each passing year.