THE DIRTY PICTURE

BUSINESSMAN RAJ KUNDRA’S ARREST IN AN ALLEGED PORN RACKET HAS BROUGHT INTO FOCUS INDIA’S LAWS ON PORNOGRAPHY, REIGNITING THE DEBATE OVER DEFINITIONS OF OBSCENITY AND EROTICA

- KIRAN D. TARE

On February 4, the Mumbai Police landed at a secluded bungalow in Madh Island, located on the northern tip of the island city, to find two persons being filmed in intimate poses. The actors and the five-member crew were arrested on the spot. The police was acting on a tip-off, part of its investigation into complaints filed by six aspiring actresses against filmmakers who were allegedly pressuring them to perform in ‘pornographic movies’. The police found that the videos shot in the bungalow, made up of six small rooms, a kitchen and a garden, were being uploaded on paid websites and mobile applications like HotShots, HotHit and Nueflix.

Six months later, millionaire businessman Raj Kundra, husband of Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, who has stakes in several companies and even the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Rajasthan Royals, was arrested. The crime branch of the Mumbai Police arrested Kundra on July 19 for his alleged links with the UK-based Kenrin Production House that owns ‘HotShots’, a paid streaming app which, as per its description on the app store, promised “private content from hot photoshoots, short movies and experience of the lifestyle of celebrities from all over the world”. The app has been taken off app stores since. Kenrin is owned by Kundra’s business partner and brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi, and HotShots was developed by Kundra’s company Armsprime Media.