Bollywood is full of rumours and lots of drama! Whether they are true or far-fetched, we’ll let you decide. 

By Deboshree Banerjee

Disclaimer: Read at your own risk. Everything you think you know about Bollywood is a lie. Sisters aren’t actually sisters, actors are actually government operatives, A-listers are all married to each other and everyone is part of the Illuminati. 

There are several things that are collectively loved by the Internet: memes, Twitter jokes, and of course, celebrity conspiracy theories. Fans and trolls alike are prone to digging up old interviews for clues, analysing photos, and coming up with exaggerated storylines about their favourite stars. So behold Masala’s pick of the six wackiest theories that will definitely awaken the gossip aunty within you.

Ek Vivah…Aisa Bhi: Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra’s secret nuptial 

Some celebrities are magnets for myths and controversies, and among them are Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra. The most jaw-dropping rumour was that they secretly tied the knot in Dubai in March 2013. 

PeeCee has never shied away from expressing her fondness and admiration for SRK, and it is rumoured that it was her father’s dying wish to see his daughter married. As a result, a midnight nikah allegedly took place.

Although King Khan’s religion allows a man to be married more than once, the actor was quick to end his relationship when Gauri Khan found out, since a divorce would lead him to lose millions in alimony, and not to mention, his public image would be tarnished. Media reports also stated that Karan Johar and a majority of the film fraternity almost boycotted Priyanka, tagging her as a homewrecker. Currently, the two seem happy to maintain a distance, and Priyanka has moved on with her 10 years younger fiancé Nick Jonas.

And you thought your relationship was complicated…

Katrina Kaif is Not Who She Says She is 

According to gossip mills, Katrina Kaif has no Indian roots and her entire identity has been fabricated so she could get more “accepted” into the industry. Apparently the actress changed her real last name from Turquotte to Kaif. Ayesha Shroff, wife of Jackie Shroff and former mentor of Katrina, came out to say “We created an identity for her. She was this pretty young English girl and we gave her a Kashmiri father and thought of calling her Katrina Kazi. We thought we’d give her some kind of Indian ancestry to connect with the audience but then we thought that Kazi sounded too religious. Mohammad Kaif was at the top, and so we said, Katrina Kaif sounds really great”.

And mind you, when Katrina responded to this statement, she only stated that she found Ayesha’s comments hurtful. Nowhere did she say that Ayesha was lying. Believe us now?

Karan Johar and Sidharth Malhotra’s Dostana 

This one’s out of the blue, but did you know that it is believed that Sidharth was actually in a relationship with Karan during the early years of his career? It ultimately led to the director casting Sidharth in his movie Student of the Year (2012) as one of the main protagonists despite not hailing from a filmy family. Now you know what it takes for the “movie mafia” to break his nepotism rules.  

Salman Khan’s Link with the Underworld

Men in Bollywood are disproportionately powerful, and by men, we mean Salman Khan. Everybody knows the truth about what went down in Salman’s 2002 hit-and-run case, but he effortlessly got a clean chit from the supreme court. Sources say his contacts with underworld dons like Dawood Ibrahim help maintain his invincibility.

Another example of his troubling behaviour was when he and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan started dating, as her father recalled that Salman would appear in the middle of the night and begin to break down the door if not let in. When Vivek Oberoi was brought into the picture, it was said that Vivek and his family would get threatening calls from the underworld regularly. Vivek only started getting movie offers after he publicly apologised to Salman.

Sridevi’s Demise: Accidental Death or Planned Murder?

What really unfolded in Sridevi’s room at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel on February 24th?  The outpouring of grief for her sudden passing was matched by wild conspiracy theories. Dubai police declared the official cause of death to be accidental drowning in a hotel bath. However, since many had suspected foul play and given the inconsistencies in Boney Kapoor’s story, the news of an insurance claim strengthened the beliefs that she was murdered. According to filmmaker Sunil Singh’s lawyer, an insurance policy worth Rs240 crore was bought in Sridevi’s name in Oman. Apart from the whopping sum, what makes it more interesting is the fact that it could only be cashed if Sridevi had died in Dubai.

As if that wasn’t suspicious enough, Sunil’s demand for a more thorough investigation was denied by the apex court, and the post-mortem examination was performed by doctors from the Preventive Medicine Unit rather than a forensic pathologist. 

Aamir Khan’s Family Feud 

Mr. Perfectionist might not be so perfect after all. Remember the movie Mela (2000)? In this film, Aamir Khan was seen sharing screen space with his younger brother Faisal Khan. Having disappeared after acting in only a handful of movies, Faisal was brought back to the limelight in 2007 for a controversy; he had undergone treatment for schizophrenia and claimed that it was Aamir who kept him locked away in his home and wouldn’t let him out. 

Faisal came out to say, “I was never ill. What has been said so far was speculative and spread by my elder brother Aamir and other family members. I was given wrong medicine, I used to sleep 20 hours a day. After 19 days in the nursing home, I was shifted to Aamir’s bungalow where at least two bodyguards would stay with me. I was under house arrest and I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. On Judgment Day, the judge announced that I’m not suffering from any illness and that I’m normal. Why did he do so much atyachar (torture) on me?” 

Amidst all this, Aamir’s father Tahir Hussain and Aamir himself filed separate court applications seeking Faisal’s custody, in which Aamir insisted that Faisal is suffering from schizophrenia, while his father argued that Faisal is only suffering from depression due to not getting any roles. Tahir won the battle as Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court announced that Faisal no longer needs to be in custody and can live anywhere he wants.