Fiji Sun

AKSHAY KUMAR ON DRUGS ISSUE

‘All Of Bollywood Not Involved’

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Bollywood ollyw superstar Akshay Kumar Kum on Saturday sent out a heartfelt hea appeal to fans as well as the media to not paint every film per personalit­y with the same brush, ad addressing the controvers­y and coverage surroundin­g actor Sushant Su Singh Rajput’s death and an allegation­s of widespread drug abuse in the film industry. industr

In a nearly n four-minute-long video, the 53-year-old actor said that t the problem of drug abuse abus exists in Bollywood, like any other industry, but one shouldn’t assume that every person in the profession is part of the problem. “Today, “Tod I’m talking to you with a heavy he heart. I want to say so many things in the past few weeks but there is so much negativity everywhere,” every he said.

“We may be b called stars, but Bollywood has been created because of your love. lov We are not just an industry, but bu through our films we have showcased showc Indian values and culture throughout thro the world,” Mr Kumar said. said

The actor added that cinema has always been a reflection of the society, raising raisin relevant issues like “corruption, “corruption poverty or unemployme­nt”, and will continue to do so. The Narcotic Narc Control Bureau (NCB) is probing allegation­s of widespread drug abuse in Bollywood and has so far arrested Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend Rhea Chakrabort­y, her brother Showik and some suspected drug dealers for allegedly facilitati­ng the actor’s drug habit.

The central agency has also questioned Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan as a part of the investigat­ion in a separate case. Influentia­l Bollywood names have faced the wrath of many on social media and various other platforms for being a negative influence. Akshay Kumar said the events following the death of Sushant Singh in June have pushed everyone in the film industry to “introspect”. The actor said he couldn’t deny that there are some in the industry who may be involved in illegal things, but most people will cooperate with the investigat­ion.

“I’ll be a liar if I say that this problem does not exist in our industry. It exists, just like every industry. But every person in every profession is not involved in such problems. This is impossible,” he said.

“Drugs is a legal matter and I’m totally confident that our law enforcemen­t authoritie­s and courts will conduct a fair investigat­ion into this issue. I know this for a fact that every person from the film industry will co-operate with them in this investigat­ion. It is my request, don’t look at the whole industry with same lens. This is not right,” he said.

The actor requested the media to not indulge in insensitiv­e and irresponsi­ble coverage as, he said, even a single “negative issue” can damage an artiste’s hard-earned reputation.

“I want to request the media that they continue doing their jobs and raising their voices but with sensitivit­y. One piece of negative issue can damage a person’s reputation that they built over the years after a lot of hard work,” Mr Kumar said.

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 ??  ?? Actor Akshay Kumar
Actor Akshay Kumar

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