I'm innocent, says Aftab
Is politics getting in the way of the law by shielding the guilty and harassing the innocent? Or is Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani being falsely implicated for cheap publicity? Aftab on Sunday denied media reports that he was "doing drugs" in a night club in Pune on February 11. He also denied that he used his political clout to shut down the club.
According to reports in the media, Aftab had, at the Pune night club 'Fire and Ice' "done drugs", made lewd gestures at a woman inside the club, got into a fight, threatened owner Ketan Kadam and later used political contacts to revoke the licence of the club. Aftab's "clout" reportedly comes from his friendship with actor Ritesh Deshmukh, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
The police shut down the club by suspending its licence for 15 days. Pune police, however, said the club had violated the law. While discos in Maharashtra are not allowed to be open after one a.m., 'Fire and Ice', they said, was kept open even beyond three a.m. on several days.
On his part, Aftab has said the allegations are "totally baseless". "Why should I simply ruin my thriving career by such a silly act? And I have no political clout. Ritesh is just my friend and I think he will be ruining himself too if he ever got to doing something like persuading his father to shut down a disco," he said. He also denied that he was on drugs. "I have never seen drugs in my life. The club management is trying to get cheap publicity by using the name of a film star," he added.
The club officials, meanwhile, are in a state of shock and the Chief Minister's office is silent on the episode.
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MUMBAI\PUNE: Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani, known for his breezy roles in comedy flicks, is in the centre of a controversy following a brawl in a hip Pune night club last Sunday.
The club management has accused Shivdasani of "doing drugs" on the premises and of "pulling political strings" to get the club's licence revoked.
Shivdasani, a close friend of actor Riteish Deshmukh, who is the son of chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, has denied the allegation.
"Someone is up to some stupid, malicious prank," Shivdasani told TOI on Saturday.
Riteish Deshmukh also denied that he had played a role in getting the club's licence revoked.
"I have no clue about the incident involving Shivdasani. He never spoke to me and I have played no role in this at all," he said on Saturday.
Recalling the drama, Ketan Kadam, one of the partners of Fire & Ice in Pune, where the incident took place, said Shivdasani, with friends in tow, visited the club on February 13 at about 11.30 pm.
He said the club manager found him "doing drugs" and tried to stop him, but in vain.
"Shivdasani was asked to leave the place immediately. Even as we thought the matter had been sorted out, the actor went up to a female party reveller and made lewd gestures at her," Kadam told this paper on Saturday.
The female guest's friends came to her rescue and this resulted in a brawl.
"Shivdasani not only hit the two friends, he also slapped the club manager when the latter, along with the bouncers, tried to intervene," Kadam alleged.
Accusing Shivdasani of "pulling political strings" to get the club's licence cancelled, Kadam said, "This was the last thing I had expected from Aftab who is my childhood friend.
"We all know that he is close to Riteish Deshmukh. However, Aftab shouldn't have pulled political strings, at least not when he himself was at fault."
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