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Why do celebs lie? Is it a habit or a defence mechanism? Should you believe a thing that Rakhi Sawant says? t2 takes a look at the most popular lies mouthed by celebs...
1. The media is responsible (for anything that goes wrong)
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This tops the list. Usually everything is blamed on “the irresponsible media”. “It is shocking how now even Bipasha (Basu) is denying having problems with Kareena (Kapoor). Both Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan also blamed the media when their slanging match during Black was a very public affair,” says Bharathi S Pradhan, The Telegraph columnist and managing editor of Movie Mag International. Even Ram Gopal Varma has often accused the media of raking up controversy. As if the maker of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag needs help! Besides there are limits to the media’s power. Sometimes it tells the truth.
2. We are just good friends
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This was the topmost lie, till the media took over. But our celebs are not really tired of saying it, though “it’s so 60s” as a media watcher says. If it was Big B and his better half Jaya in the past, beta and bahu (or Beta and Alpha?), Abhishek and Aishwarya, repeated history, verbatim.
“The legendary Rekha and Amitabh relationship is what comes to my mind. Rekha used to keep it hanging in the air like a yo yo,” laughs TV host Mir. “Even Kareena (Kapoor) and Shahid (Kapur) kept denying their relationship until that infamous smooch at the night-club,” says a city model. (Kareena even went on to say that girls from families like hers don’t do certain things. Don’t do what?)
The newest additions to the list are Shahid Kapur, Vidya Balan and their Kismat Konnection; Harman Baweja and Priyanka Chopra (Harman said last week that he and she are “co-stars and good friends”, though apparently in his family certain people already call her “bhabi”) and Konkona Sensharma and Ranvir Shorey (pair, not a pair; engaged, not engaged). Giving them company is socialite-who-could-have-been-politician Rahul Mahajan and starlet Payal Rohatgi, currently grabbing eyeballs on the reality show Bigg Boss. But nothing was, is, official, ever.
That way, Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan are bracing. It was also refreshing when each of Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta — and Sanjay Kapoor — in Om Shanti Om said of their relationship with OK (SRK): “We are just good friends!” with a significant rolling of the eyes.
3. I eat every-thing…
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…and the calories go to the enemy. “They want to show that they are God-gifted,” says city model Jessica. An insider, who has seen supermodels up close and personal, says Carol Gracias and Bhavna Sharma often come up with this one. “They say they eat everything, but I have hardly seen them eating,” she says. Bharathi S Pradhan giggles: “It means how they all have bulimia!” Not just models, actresses too drop the ‘I eat everything’ line. Where do they hide it? All of them don’t even wear enough clothes.
4. I never exercise
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It may be so-not-happening to tell this lie, but some celebs still do. “They all fall into the same category — I never exercise but still I don’t put on weight,” says Bharathi S Pradhan. Deepika Padukone said this at an awards ceremony recently where she announced she needed to start exercising very soon. It all depends on what you mean by exercise, of course. “Moni (model Monikangana Dutta) insists that she doesn’t work out,” says an industry insider.
5. It was said in jest, or, it was not meant to hurt anyone
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The commonest escape route. “When they see the situation going out of hand, they usually say this,” observes Mir. He recollects a comment made by one of the RJs about Indian Idol 3 winner Prashant Tamang, which led to violence in Siliguri. “The RJ said something like ‘agar sab Gorkha gaane lage toh hamare ghar ki rakhwali kaun karega?’, which means Nepali means shaabji and shaabji means darwaan. Later he said that it was said in jest.” Jaya Bachchan’s remark “we are from UP so we will speak in Hindi… people of Maharashtra forgive us” at the music release of sonny boy Abhishek’s upcoming film Drona was followed by a very public apology from hubby Amitabh Bachchan. “The remark that Jaya made at the music release function of Drona last week was not meant to malign or hurt anybody or any group of people... What she said was done without any kind of malice”. Adman Prahlad Kakkar jokes: “What they probably mean is that ‘I told the truth, but didn’t want you to find out’.”
6. Everything is fine between the two of us
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John Abraham-Bipasha Basu top the list, followed by Sonam Kapoor-Ranbir Kapoor and Kareena-Shahid. “Even when they (Kareena-Shahid) had broken up they kept saying that everything is fine between us. I recently heard that she got Shahid out of an Imtiaz Ali film,” says Pradhan. Sonam Kapoor told People magazine recently that “I am in touch with him (Ranbir Kapoor).” But they were hand-in-hand during the Saawariya hand-in-hand days. All she will admit to now is a text message she received from him and the fact that “we been friends all my life”.
This lie isn’t particular to couples alone. Leading actresses (and actors) often lunge at each other’s throats, but will deny it as passionately.
7. I am not pregnant
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For Mir, this lie basically means: “ ‘Ei! kauke bolo na kintu (Don’t tell this to anyone)…hushhh…!’ “The first name that comes to my mind would be Britney Spears. If I had access to her number I would have asked her is she growing a paunch just like people grow moustaches or a beard?” Mahima Chaudhary has also resorted to this.
8. I am 25
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It is the heroine’s favourite age. Not old, not very young. Just right. Mir says he knows people who say: “This morning, I opened the door and saw that someone had left a cake with 20 candles.” He strongly recommends a film for all those who say this: Clerk, where Shashi Kapoor and Rekha play college-goers. “Katrina Kaif says this very often,” says an industry source. A modelling industry insider claims that Koena Mitra and Celina Jaitley, too, are not very clear about their age. “When Koena had gone for a contest, she said she was 23 when she was actually in her late 20s,” she says. They should all learn from Mithunda who told t2: “Believe me, I am definitely not 60. I am 27. I am not ready to go beyond even by a year. ”
9. I haven’t gone under the knife / I don’t know what Botox is
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A model/ item number from Calcutta denied ever having undergone a surgery till her nose went kaput. “That’s an utter lie. She got her implants done long back. I remember we were all very excited about it and how she was giving us tips on how to wear the right bra after the surgery,” says an insider. Kakkar says anyone who can spell Botox correctly has definitely done it.
10. I get along with everyone
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Which basically means: “I don’t get along with anyone”. We have heard Deepika Padukone, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta say this quite often. “Anu Malik keeps saying this when the truth is that no one can stand him because he is such a bore. Also, singer Abhijeet,” laughs Mir. Pradhan points out how SRK once famously said on Koffee With Karan that Rani (Mukerji) will now grow a halo around her head because she has become such a saint, getting along with everyone!
Politicians like Amar Singh and Raj Thackeray also fall into this category. “They’ll keep saying that ‘humein kisise koi problem nahin hai’. What they actually mean is they are Misters Know It All and have a problem with everything and everyone. They claim that they don’t poke their noses into other’s matters, but in reality they have noses as long as Pinnochio’s,” says Mir. And Raj Thackeray’s latest career moves have only been his problems with Amitabh Bachchan.
11. I have a lot of offers
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Read: “I am unemployed and sitting at home.” An industry person says: “All these actors keep saying this. Whenever you ask them about their projects, they will say that that they are reading three scripts every day, but don’t like anything. Or that they are rejecting scripts by the dozen.” Such very busy Bolly actors currently are Jackie Shroff, Amrita Arora and Chunkey Pandey.
12. We are family
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In such a family, Pradhan says, expect a lot of “saas-bahu moments”. Kakkar feels it is a family of “kissing cousins”. Everyone from SRK and the Bachchans, SRK and Hrithik Roshan, one Khan and another, make such statements. “What it probably means is that do not dare to cast us together. We will sink it,” says Mir. For him, Shekhar Suman and Navjot Singh Sidhu making statements like ‘we are family’ is hilarious.
Family in Bollywood also means camps. So, a KJo or a Sajid Khan is family with everyone right from the Khans to the Kapoors. KJo hit the nail on the head, perhaps not caring about its irony, when he said: “It’s all about loving the family.”
