Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut’s very public spat hinges partly on a crucial point of contention — emails. Ever since the details of the fight started spilling over in the public domain, a bunch of things have come to light — one of them being the curious case of hacked emails accounts. Kangana has alleged that Hrithik sent her multiple emails to which she responded, only to be told that they were directed to an impostor posing as the star. Kangana further went on to say that Hrithik has hacked into her account to delete a few emails, to avoid over- complicating his divorce proceedings with ex-wife Sussanne Khan.
Virtual impostors and frauds are not new to Bollywood stars and starlets. Earlier this month, filmmaker Vikram Bhatt fell prey to an impostor’s antics who used Bhatt’s name to fish out contacts of influential people on whatsapp. Filmmakers in particular are common prey to such mischief.
Says a source from the industry, “Unlike other industries, Bollywood has no formal structure, making it easy for impostors to lure vulnerable wannabe actors and artistes into the trade under false pretexts.”
Anurag Kashyap: In 2012, an impostor posing as the casting director of Bombay Velvet sent messages to girls from small towns requesting their portfolios. The matter came to light when the original casting director of the film Mukesh Chaabra was intimated by some of his industry friends. Anurag Kahyap later wrote a post clarifying that it was a hoax and he never called for auditions.
Ranveer Singh and Siddharth Roy Kapur: In 2013, a person posing as Ranveer Singh demanded Bikini clad pictures on Facebook from aspiring actors assuring them that if he liked the pictures he would set up a meeting with UTV honcho Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Vikram Bhatt, filmmaker: I was in Romania and some random person used my picture and name to call people and ask them for contact details of models and fashion designers. He had saved his name as Vikram and even True Caller showed the same. Fortunately for me, his English was pathetic and he got caught. He somehow knew that I was not in the city. I got in touch with the cops, but they refused to do anything. I later had to call higher-ups and they then took the complaint. I have had people create fake Facebook profiles, e-mail accounts on my name and invite people for auditions of films that I didn’t even direct. My Facebook profile was hacked once and all the ladies in the account were receiving messages. I don’t know what else to do when all my details are available on the net. When the cat is away the mice will play! Milan luthria, filmmaker: The access to such pranks has become very easy in the digital age. Just punch a few keys, copy paste a photograph off the net and there you are ready to create chaos. Earlier it wasn’t possible to fool around. It also shows the erosion of responsibility and how people are now enjoying playing with the hopes of aspirants. Few years ago someone created a fake Facebook and a Twitter account by my name and sent out random requests to people, asking to audition for films. My PR department brought it to my notice and immediately issued a clarification in the media and complained to the cops. We now make sure that we have official film pages and Twitter handles, so that people can get in touch with us without falling prey to impostors. Aspirants will explore every avenue that is available and it could be dangerous. They must ensure that the credentials are verified before meeting the person.
