It is no wonder that the life of the Hindi movie industry is filled with different types of controversies and such has been the controversies that the tinsel town of glamour and glaze has also been nicknamed the ‘Controversial Town’ at the same time. From massive fallouts with co-stars to fights in public with the public to serious issues of legal controversies, the tinsel town has been a silent witness to several such issues in the past. Recently, a case has been filed against the Hindi movie actress, Zareen Khan for duping a Puja organization in the year 2018 by not appearing for the inauguration of their Puja in spite of having taken the money from them as her charge. This has not just resulted in huge media controversy but at the same time has resulted in the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) by the authorities associated with the grieved Puja organization on an order passed from the High Court of Calcutta.

Zareen Invites Some Scornful Eyes

It seems that the ‘Veer’ actress decided to follow the concept of a promise made to break it when she decided to give the nod of approval to the organizers of the Puja community, who approached her with the request to appear as a special guest to grace their Puja occasion. It has been alleged by the authorities associated with sending the letter of invitation to Zareen Khan that the actress had allegedly charged a lump sum amount of 12.5 lakhs of rupees as her fees in order to appear at the said venue, somewhere in the Salt Lake Township in the northern side of the city of Kolkata. However, as has been stated in the First Information Report (FIR) by the authorities associated with the Puja, the actress did not bother to turn up or inform them about her failure to reach the venue on the said date and time. On top of that, they have also mentioned that in spite of making several repeated attempts to establish contact with the actress over her phone as well as through her personal assistant, they had miserably failed to reach out to her.

This time, on getting an application from the organizers of the Puja, the High Court of Kolkata has finally decided to give its consent in the issuing of an arrest warrant against the actress in a case of money laundering and forgery against her. This has sparked up huge controversy both in the ‘City of Joy as well as in the tinsel of glamour and glaze and has put a big mark of the question before the public reputation and respect that the actress had been enjoying. This has also led everyone to doubt whether she would still be able to continue her career in the Hindi movie industry, given that the popularity of an actor or an actress depends on her public image and fame.

The Great Puja Scam

It has been stated that in the year 2018, an organization in the Salt Lake Township on the northern side of the city decided to call her as one of the special guests to grace their occasion. It has been repeatedly stated by the authorities associated with the organizing of everything that the actress had put before them a demand of a lump sum amount of money, amounting to up to 12.5 lakhs of rupees as her fees as well as a first-class system of accommodation for her during her stay in the city. However, the actress failed to not just turn up on the given date and time but at the same time failed to convey her failure to arrive at the location to the authorities, who were eagerly waiting for her and even failed to return the money that she had already taken in advance as her fees.

This has led to the eruption of a severe tussle between the actress, her team and the Puja organization. On being questioned by a newspaper about the issue, the actress straightforwardly denied giving answers to any question, blamed the organizers of the Puja instead and asked anybody interested in the issue to directly establish contact with her personal assistant. “I’m sure there is no truth to this. I’m surprised too and am checking with my lawyer. Only then will I be able to give you some clarity? In the meantime, you can speak to my PR,” was quite a candid reply from the side of the actress.

The matter was immediately brought up before the police and then dragged to the court by the grieved organizers, who were associated with the Puja. On going through the reports that have been filed against her, the High Court of Kolkata had been sending several summons to her that she had failed to attend to. This time, the High Court of Calcutta has decided to command the Kolkata Police to generate a warrant of arrest against the actress and to get her immediately behind bars for not just the case of money laundering but at the same time in her repeated contempt of the court. Till the time of the article was written, there had been no positive response from the side of the actress, who informed that any doubts regarding her credibility should be verified only after her lawyer arrived.

As has been reported from authentic legal sources in the city of Kolkata, the actress had been immediately summoned by the Kolkata Police after the incident had taken place in the year 2018. Even then, it has been reported that the actress had been categorically denying her alleged involvement in the case of financial cheating and even accused the organizers of the Puja of misleading her regarding the list of guests arriving at the location of the Puja. She alleged that the organizers of the Puja had intentionally been misinforming her by falsely claiming that the Puja would be graced by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee and other ministers from the government of West Bengal. She also claimed that she was facing no aid from the organizers regarding her accommodation in the city.

Whatever the issue, the case is still under the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agencies of Kolkata and things are yet to be unearthed by the investigating agencies. Till then, we can only wait and observe how things unfold to reveal the real culprit and whether Zareen finds anyone besides her in this case or remains ‘Hum Bhi Akele’ throughout.