Security beefed up outside Jaya Bachchan’s bungalow

A day after Rajya Sabha MP and veteran actor Jaya Bachchan defended the film industry on charges of drug addiction in Parliament, the Mumbai Police Wednesday beefed up security outside the actor’s bungalow in Juhu.

The development comes after the actor was viciously trolled on social media for her remarks in the Rajya Sabha.

“Just because of a few people, you cannot tarnish the whole industry… I was really embarrassed and ashamed that yesterday one of our members in the Lok Sabha, who is from the industry, spoke against the film industry. Jis thaali mein khaate hain usi mein chhed karte hain (they are biting the hand that feeds them),” the actor had said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The actor’s remarks came a day after BJP Lok Sabha MP and Bhojpuri actor Ravi Kishan said that there was a problem of drug addiction in the film industry. However, the actor did not name Kishan in her speech.

She also said these allegations were being made to divert the country’s attention from real issues such as unemployment and the economy. “People who have made a name in this industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree and I really disassociate.”

“I hope the government tells these people who have made their earning, name and fame in this industry to stop using such language. There are people in the entertainment industry who are some of the highest taxpayers (in the country). They are still being harassed. I think the government must stand by the entertainment industry because it always comes forward to help the government in whatever good work it takes up… If there is a national calamity, they come forward, they give money and their services,” she said.

Her statement came even as the Ministry of Home Affairs, in reply to a question, told Lok Sabha that it did not receive any actionable intelligence of a nexus between drug traffickers and the film industry during the lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The Shiv Sena, too, came out in support of the Rajya MP slamming those who claimed there was a problem of drug addiction in the film industry.

“Those who make such claims are hypocrites and their statements smack of double standards,” the Shiv Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece Saamana.

“A doping test should be conducted on those who claim that all artists and technicians in the film industry are under the influence of drugs,” the editorial read.

Source: Indian Express