Television's Biggest Controversies, 2013

The world of television saw more than its usual share of controversies in 2013. We take a look.

Gutthi vs Kapil Sharma

One of the most popular shows on television, Comedy Nights With Kapil, saw its most popular character on the show Gutthi (played by Sunil Grover) in controversial waters.

Rumours were abuzz that since Grover was stealing the limelight from the show's host Kapil Sharma, the latter got insecure and asked his team to tone down Gutthi’s character. This led to creative differences and Grover ultimately quit the show.

The channel applied for a copyright for Gutthi's character, and the matter went to court.

Grover, meanwhile, hopes to take his talent elsewhere.

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British singer-actor Sofia Hayat filed a police complaint against actor Armaan Kohli for sexual harassment, abuse and manhandling her in the controversial reality show Bigg Boss.

Armaan was arrested by the Lonavala police and released on bail the next day.

Armaan returned to the Bigg Boss house after completing the legal formalities.

Sofia, meanwhile, refused the attend the grand finale of the show, and claims that she is contemplating further action.

Actress Mona Singh complained to the police when a scandalous MMS clip, alleged to be of her, went viral on the internet. 

The actress learnt about the clip on the sets of her daily show Kya Hua Tera Vaada.

Mona said a photograph of her had been morphed and used in the clip. Investigators confirmed that the actress’s face was indeed morphed in the MMS.

Pratyusha Banerjee -- popularly known as Anandi in the hit serial Balika Vadhu -- filed a police complaint against her businessman boyfriend Makrand Malhotra.

She accused Makrand of verbal abuse and death threats

On the other hand, he accused Pratyusha of cheating on him.

Bigg Boss 7 saw a lot of controversies while it lasted.

Contestant Kushal Tandon was asked to leave the show when he grabbed the neck of another contestant, Andy, in anger for displaying co-contestant Gauahar’s lingerie during a task set them as part of the show.

Kushal also jumped over the fence of the house when Bigg Boss refused to punish Tanisha Mukherjee (another housemate) for pushing him.

An angry Kushal passed nasty remarks about Tanisha like ‘fat face’, and ‘good-for-nothing flop actress.’

Host Salman Khan reprimanded Kushal for being so callous towards a lady.

Salman Khan, meanwhile, had to defend his remarks against Kushal on Twitter, after he was criticised by Kushal’s fan-following.

After Kushal re-entered the show, Salman had said that Kushal had got mileage out of the situation after he left the house, and that he had hired a PR expert to work on his image.

Kushal clarified that he had done no such thing.

Salman also said that it was not his decision to bring Kushal back. Had he been allowed to take a call, Kushal would not have been back at all.

But things ended well with them: Kushal was invited to Khan's birthday bash in December.

A police complaint was filed against actor and Bigg Boss contestant Ajaz Khan for reportedly calling BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi a 'chor' (thief) during a conversation with other housemates.

A video, supposedly of the episode, was posted on YouTube and went viral on other social networking sites.

The investigating officer said the channel authorities have told them that no such statement was made by Ajaz. The video from the channel authorities will now be compared to the one on YouTube.

Vindoo Dara Singh was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for his alleged involvement in the spot-fixing scandal in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The former Bigg Boss winner was reportedly in constant touch with bookies involved in the IPL betting, and thus linked to the scandal.

Vindoo, who claimed innocence, was produced in court and released on bail.

Bigg Boss 2 winner and host of a reality show, Ashutosh Kaushik was off-loaded from a Mumbai bound Spice Jet flight for misbehaving with fellow passengers, airline staff and even the Delhi Police.

Ashutosh also had a spat with TV actor Amar Upadhyay, who was on the same flight.

The situation got so ugly that the two former Bigg Boss contestants came to blows.

Actor Karan Singh Grover was apparently sacked by Zee TV for unprofessional behaviour and lack of commitment towards the show Qubool Hai.

Karan, meanwhile, states that he left the show because the contract was over and he had informed the channel of his exit well in advance.

He is now planning to take legal action against the channel for defamation.

TV actor Kanan Malhotra, who became popular with Rab Se Sona Ishq, was questioned by the Mumbai police in connection with a drug case.

Investigating officers found Kanan’s calls in well-known drug dealer Sandy Singh’s call records.

They alleged that Kanan might have been in touch with Singh to purchase drugs.

Rajat Tokas, who plays Emperor Akbar in the popular daily show, Jodhaa Akbar, was reportedly beaten by spot boys for his high-handed behaviour on the sets.

Then, soon after its launch, an organisation called Rajput Kshatriya Akhil Bharatiya Chatariya Sabha, alleged that the serial gave false information that Jodha had married Akbar to save her father's kingdom.

Later, another community created a riot for allegedly depicting them in a poor light.

Protests from Sikh activists forced the change of name of the serial Gurbani to Bani: Ishq Da Kalma just before the first episode went on air.

The serial is based on the Punjabi practice of getting girls married off to Indians settled abroad.

The protagonist’s name was Gurbani, which is the name for the compositions of the Sikh Gurus.