The glitz and glamour of the tinsel town of Mumbai, popularly known as the Bellwood, has been catching our attention for so many years with its fair share of controversies and scandals. Recently, Bellwood dancer and actress, Nora Fatehi, has decided to file a suit of defamation charges against another of her counterpart from the same industry, Jacqueline Fernandez. The defamation suit alleges Jacqueline Fernandez of falsely linking conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar, who is currently serving his sentence in prison for extortion and cheating cases, with Nora Fatehi. The teams of Nora Fatehi as well as her fans are alleging that it was a pre-determined attempt on the part of Jacqueline Fernandez to intentionally spoil her reputation and stall the growth of her career.

The Games of Allegations and Defamation

On the 31^st of July this year, actress and dancer Nora Fatehi decided to record her statement before the Patiala House Court, accusing her colleague and actress Jacqueline Fernandez of falsely linking her name with that of Bellwood conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar. She even recorded the same statement before the media after the latter questioned her regarding the same outside the court. The defamation suit claims that the actress Jacqueline Fernandez has linked Nora Fatehi with conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar to intentionally put a dent in her career and harm her reputation.

Recent newspaper reports have suggested that the infamous conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar would try to lure glamorous actresses from the tinsel town of Bellwood by buying them expensive items. Pictures that have been circulated on social media have shown both actresses in quite a cosy position with the conman. Recently, the con man was arrested by the Mumbai police and the officers from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of extortion of money and is currently serving his time in prison.

However, Nora Fatehi has been denying these allegations or the truth of the images that were being circulated on social media. She retorted that these allegations were intentionally crafted against her to bring public shame to her and seriously harm her career that he has been building on step by step. She went further with her claim that the person, who is involved in all this mudslinging about her, was none other than Jacqueline Fernandez herself. She felt that all these baseless allegations and rumours were spread by Jacqueline Fernandez to dent her reputation and stall the growth of her career. As a reaction to this, Nora Fatehi decided to file a lawsuit of defamation against her colleague in court. She and her lawyers have decided to claim a sum of 200 crore rupees as a claim for defamation from Jacqueline Fernandez.

The Statement Made by Nora Fatehi

Nora Fatehi described herself as a “soft target” in her statement before the Magistrate Kapil Gupta of Patiala House Court. Her statement read “I feel that I have been used as a scapegoat in this case in the media to safeguard certain people, and because I am an outsider, I have been used as a soft target and I want compensation for all the damage caused to my career.” She said that the spreading of this fake accusation against her has made her lose work and face a serious case of cyberbullying and harassment at the work front. She also alleged that the false defamation has led to a severe financial loss on her side that has affected her badly and seriously. She even complained that Jacqueline Fernandez called her a “gold digger” and has put a blemish on her otherwise clean character. “Fernandez has unnecessarily dragged and defamed me as I am in the same industry. She is fully aware that the business of any artiste and their career is solely based on their reputation. This establishes that the said imputation has been made with the intention and knowledge that such imputation will harm the reputation of the complainant,” said Nora Fatehi to the persons from the media. She accused Jacqueline Fernandez of putting up a fake picture of her before the general public to execute her ulterior intentions and malicious motives.

For celebrities, especially, those, who belong to the world of glitz and glamour, for them, they need to protect their public image and reputation to ensure the smooth growth of their career and achieve success. The putting of false allegations against them can barely and severely affect them as it can spoil their clean image in the public that they need to always highlight to get opportunities to work at better prospects, preserve their stardom and maintain and enjoy a decent fan base in the industry. Nora Fatehi, who has managed to display her talent and be successful in her field even though she comes from a non-acting background and that too from a foreign country, understandably wants to preserve the fame that her immense talent and hard work have brought her. By filing a defamation suit against her false accusers, she sends a message that she would not flinch a little from taking a firm position against any desperate attempt made to belittle her and her image.

The Truth Remains Hidden

Even Nora Fatehi cannot be kept above suspicion as she had accepted that somebody going by the name of Pinky Irani had her and Jacqueline Fernandez introduced to Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Regarding that matter, she was also grilled by officers from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in September last year.

Whether it is Jacqueline Fernandez trying to accuse Nora Fatehi falsely or not is not a matter of concern. Even the defamation suit filed by Nora Fatehi in return to counterattack Jacqueline Fernandez’s purportedly fake statements against her is also something secondary. What concerns us as well as several of their fans is how could conmen such as Sukesh Chandrasekhar even dare to roam freely and connect with the influential people of the society such as these actors. It is also worrisome how could educated actresses, who call themselves youth icons and influencers even think of associating themselves with such people. Is this the way they would like the youth of our country, who follow and worship them blindly, to turn out in their real life? The truth is we are waiting for it earnestly to be revealed as it seems that it is still hidden in darkness.