t has been seen that film stars can go to any length to market a film or product, from pronoucing themselves dead or 'ending' their marriage. Arbaaz and Malaika Khan are not the only ones in the business to go to any lengths for a few minutes of fame and of course, the big money. We take a look at instances when stars have gone out of their way to promote their films or brands.
. Malaika even claimed that Arbaaz was going to re-marry. Two days later, the couple kissed and '
,' revealing that the split was just a publicity stunt for a beauty product.
We wonder how they explained the 'split' that was splashed all over the newspapers to their five-year-old son.
Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai The media was abuzz with rumours that Abhishek and Ash were an item long before they disclosed the fact, and there were denials from both sides.
Then, all of a sudden, the couple got engaged the weekend their film, Guru, released. Very conveniently, Guru saw the actors play a married couple, and their wedding scene in the film was repeatedly played on television channels. The engagement made Guru one of the first big hits of the year.
Meera
Pakistani actress Meera came under fire from Islamic fundamentalist for a kissing scene with costar Ashmit Patel in her Bollywood debut,
Nazar. Of course, no actual names of these mullahs was ever taken. And we don't know why Meera was tom-toming the kissing controversy in every interview that she gave.
Unfortunately, Nazar did not benefit from all this. It sank at the box office, and took with it any hope Meera may have had of a career in Bollywood.
Murder
Murder saw Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat busy locking lips, but offscreen, they were spitting fire. Both decided that the film was a hit because of their individual contribution, but Mallika refused to share credit. She gave bold statements to the press, and declared that the film was a hit, thanks to her.
None of it went well with Emraan, and Mallika's other costar Ashmit Patel. The trio have never since worked together.
Ek Choti Si Love Story
This was one film that took a really ugly turn. Manisha Koirala claimed that she was wrongly filmed in the film
Ek Choti Si Love Story by director Shashilal Nair. She alleged that there were scenes that were not supposed to be a part of film and a body double was used but Nair claimed that Manisha was part of those raunchy scenes. She went to court and even politicians like Shiv Sena supreme Bal Thackeray turned against Nair and wanted a ban on the film.
After much controversy the film released and did very well at the box office, thanks to the controversy and publicity.
Criminal
The headlines screamed 'Manisha Koirala murdered'. She had just made her her debut in
Saudagar and no one believed that this actress would die so early. Her male fans went into depression and were in disbelief about the news. Then came a rejoinder, it was only a publicity stint for her latest film
Criminal starring Nagarajuna and Manisha Koirala.
Unfortunately this did not help the film and it flopped badly at the box office.
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