Shiney Ahuja -The Euphonic, talented actor with curly hair (and a vague similarity with me, to boot!), has more or less become the ‘gangster’ of bollywood, with the recent turn of events. The ‘gangster’ tag wouldn’t have given much of a dismal appeal some three years ago, where the actor was applauded for his sterling performance in the hit movie of the same name. Ahuja’s career, already on a wane of sorts, hit a rock bottom with his arrest following allegations of rape by his housemaid on June 14th, Sunday.
CC Credits: Buzz 18
To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement – I was left dumbfound, for I’m a frontrunner among the (dwindling) community of the actor’s fans! 🙁 If you ask why, well, I’ve no specific reason. 😀 Ahuja hasn’t carved a niche for himself when it comes to acting – his best debutant filmfare award seems to be his sole credit. Strangely, Ahuja happens to be a half Malayali! His mom hails from Kerala, but that’s not a reason why I’m his fan. The steely facial expressions, the depictions of existential angst in Gangster and Life in a Metro, the ‘Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai song’ (among my favourites), and of course, the facial similarity might’ve given him brownie pints in my list. But that apart, I’ve always felt that this actor has a huge repository of unseen talent within.
No one (except Shiney and his 18 year old maid) can ascertain the veracity of the allegations. Shiney has apparently confessed having consensual sex with the maid – a fact corroborated by medical reports. The victim has alleged that Shiney ‘raped’ her between 2 and 5 PM at his Tarapore Gardens residence in Andheri while his wife (Anupama) and daughter (Arshiya) weren’t home. Shiney has a lot of support from the world of celebrities with people like Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Mohit Suri, Anurag Basu and actors Shakti Kapoor, Aman Verma and Chitrangda Singh supporting him. Even his wife believes in him, and dismisses the situation to be a frame up (Bravo, Anupama! 😀 )
Given the media blitzkreig and the attention the case has received, any commoner would feel a pang of cynicism – we have celebrities who still walk scot free after running down 4 people. With hush-hush rumours about Shiney being given ‘special’ treatment by the police (a statement, the police were quick to rebutt), Shiney today is at the other end of the media.
But just imagine, ninety nine percent of country’s rapes go un-noticed, and even those cases that make it to the court have downright-abysmal conviction rates! With the might of a celebrity pitted at the other end, the (so-called) victim must really be applauded to move the court to fight against the morally-debasing injustice meted out to her! She refused to be cowed down by the muscle power of her celebrity-‘molester’ and decided to fight it out, kudos to that. Her fight for justice will be fractious nevertheless, the process will be tough and long drawn. With the trillion loopholes in the IPC, it won’t take a great effort from Shiney’s advocate to get a trademark kurta-aviator-glass-shaded-jeans clad actor out of gaol.
I feel there is some truth in Shiney’s consensual-sex statement. An actor of his stature needn’t force an unattractive, hapless house maid against her will if he had the urge to ‘make out’. He’d get the girl of his choice without much effort, assuming the worst (yes, even when he’s married and has a kid!). In that context, the rape argument doesn’t hold much ground. Interestingly, the girl runs away and ‘speaks out’ to the media exactly the same day, within hours of the ‘incident’! Too much coincidence? Could it be that the whole incident is a frame up of sorts with the girl seducing Shiney (or vice versa, maybe) and later crying ‘Rape!’?
In any scenario, the case is a major setbackl for Shiney Ahuja, who we won’t be seeing in the silver screen for a while, even with all the celebrity endorsement backing him. In a media blitz to make the most TRPs out of an ignominous quagmire, many lives will be in peril (especially the girl’s, if this isn’t her work).
Another day in the life of a nation of contrasts!
The Lask ink drop:
Preeti Jain (yes, the actor who said ace director Madhur Bhandarkar raped her 15 times) was arrested while protesting against Shiney Ahuja and burning his effigies with fifty odd people! 😛 Read the full story here.
Shiney Ahuja: Rapist or Victim? An analysis by a reluctant fan: http://bit.ly/aeFvg
(Please RT)
The outcome is clear, as you've mentioned, Ahuja is going to walk out even if he is really guilty or not. kudos to the Indian Judicial System.
Interestingly, the girl runs away and ’speaks out’ to the media exactly the same day, within hours of the ‘incident’! Too much coincidence? Could it be that the whole incident is a frame up of sorts with the girl seducing Shiney (or vice versa, maybe) and later crying ‘Rape!’?
Well a RAPE is different from a consensual sexual act. The medical reports won't say RAPE if they found everything normal in the girl. I think this statement of yours was a bit callous at the least and shouldn't have been there. A girl won't go down and give in all her life's reputation(however little it is) for getting Media attention. It it were some actress wannabe desperate for some coverage i'll agree. But not a "an unattractive, hapless house maid".
seemed to have done quite some reading on this!!!!!!!!
people care about similarity in looks, don't they?
Read this! http://bit.ly/aeFvg RT @tenalirama: Remembering Shiney- Why is Shiney Ahuja a HARD core Swadeshi? He likes Maid in India. LOL!
does it really matter that u look similar to shiney? that is not the case in point here. here is a man who has been accused of rape and u r not the court of law to decide whether he is guilty or whether he has been framed. u seem to have a big soft corner for ur half mallu. who would want to frame a down-in-the-dumps actor like shiney? and why would anyone want to frame him .his career was biting the dust even before the rape and everyone would have forgotten him had it not been the rape.
Well, that's another way of looking at things. 🙂 And it's not the half-mallu part that endeared me. It's some innate nuances of his acting, et al.
And no, his career wasn't actually biting the dust, and had the rape not occured, he'd still have been in the reckoning.
Sad fact is, Shiney's gone. 😐 Erased from public memory. 🙁