Kangana lied in interview following Sushant Singh Rajput's death, says Javed Akhtar in court

Veteran lyricist Javed Akhtar on Monday told a Mumbai court that certain comments made by filmstar Kangana Ranaut during an interview to a news channel after the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June 2020 were "nothing but a lie”.

Akhtar made the remarks when he appeared before Andheri metropolitan magistrate court in suburban Mumbai for cross-examination by a defence lawyer in a defamation case filed by him against Kangana.

The 76-year-old lyricist-poet had filed a complaint in the magistrate's court in November 2020, claiming Kangana had made certain defamatory statements against him in a television interview, which allegedly damaged his reputation. In the interview given to a news channel in 2020 after the death of Rajput, among other statements, Kangana had claimed Akhtar asked her to apologise to co-star, Hrithik Roshan, who in 2016 filed a lawsuit against her seeking an apology after a public spat over a statement on their alleged relationship.

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“Once Javed Akhtar called me to his house and told me Rakesh Roshan (Hrithik Roshan's father) and his family are very big people. If you don't apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction… you will commit suicide. These were his words. He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house," Kangana had told the news channel.

During cross-examination on Monday, Kangana's lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee asked, “Is it true that you have not disclosed the true fact of the meeting with her because whatever Kangana said in the interview is true.”

The veteran lyricist volunteered and said, “Whatever Kangana said in the interview is a lie and nothing but a lie.” The court recorded it was not true that Akhtar did not disclose the correct sequence of the meeting held sometime in March 2016.

Further responding to a question on the meeting held at his house, the well-known lyricist said the 'Queen' actor had come to his house to explore some kind of a solution to settle issues with her co-star. The question posed to him was whether Kangana and her sister Rangoli came to his house "obediently".

Akhtar responded by saying, “You expect obedience from Kangana, it is not called obedience, but the possibility for something...some kind of a solution. Physical reality is they came to my house, but obedience is a notion only in mind." The judge only recorded it is not true that they came to his house sometime in March 2016 'obediently'.

The veteran lyricist said Kangana knew about the agenda of the meeting. “I had told her about the agenda of the meeting on call. Didn't call her to discuss the weather, political situation or American election in 2016,” he said.

In response to another question, he said it is true Kangana was not willing to listen to him, but to say that she was upset and then left the meeting is wrong.

Akhtar said though he did not know Kangana personally, he had always liked her work as an actor, but in the meeting, he changed the topic once he realized she was not going to listen to him.

The veteran lyricist stated that he knows the Roshan family very well, but the dispute between Kangana and Hrithik “was of no consequence or bearing on me personally”.

In 2016, Hrithik filed a lawsuit against Kangana, asking her to apologise for damaging his reputation through her 'silly ex' statement.

The Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai actor maintained there was no relationship between them and threatened to sue her for defamation if she didn't comply with the demand to tender an apology.

Kangana responded with a legal notice, denying the charges and alleging criminal intimidation. Hrithik Roshan and Kangana had worked together in Hindi films Krrish 3 and Kites.

Last month, during his deposition (examination-in-chief), Akhtar had told the court one Ramesh Agarwal, known to many actors, had met him in 2016 where they talked about the Roshan-Kangana Ranaut issue.

"I told him that I knew Hrithik but I hardly knew the lady (Kangana). He said 'you are a senior member of the film fraternity' and asked me to use my good office to sort out the issue,” Akhtar had told the court. The lyricist then called the Ranaut sisters to his house in 2016 to explore the possibility of a solution between the two sides.