Why did Bollywood personality Kamal Rashid Khan get sent to 14-day judicial custody?

Actor-turned-film critic Kamal Rashid Khan, better known as KRK, has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Borivali Court on Tuesday. KRK was presented in the Borivali Court after he was arrested by the Malad Police earlier.

Who is he?: KRK is know for starring in a few Bhojpuri films and two Hindi films in his career. One is the action-thriller ‘Deshdrohi’ and the 2014 runaway hit ‘Ek Villain’, where he had a cameo appearance. He is a social media star commanding a vast following. Above: Poster from his iconic film 'Deshdrohi'

Why was he arrested?: KRK was arrested from Mumbai airport for controversial tweets dating back 2020 over late actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. The FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint by Yuva Sena leader Rahul Kanal on April 30, 2020, where he alleged that KRK’s tweets allegedly spread “hatred”. “Even when the world is going through a pandemic, I can’t understand his inhumane behaviour and spreading hatred in all spheres of life,” Kanal’s FIR stated.

KRK’s controversies: The self-proclaimed movie critic has gotten embroiled in many controversies in the past. Last year, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan filed a defamation suit against KRK for statements he made about the actor and his charity company Being Human. At the time, KRK had claimed he was being sued because of his review of Salman’s ‘Radhe’, which had just been released at the time.

Salman’s legal team clarified: “Mr Kamaal R Khan, the Defendant, has put out a series of tweets and videos alleging that Mr. Salman Khan has sued him for defamation because the Defendant reviewed the film, Radhe. This is incorrect. The suit has been filed as the Defendant has been publishing and endorsing defamatory allegations, including that Mr. Salman Khan is corrupt, that he and his brand ‘Being Human’ are involved in fraud, manipulation and money laundering transactions, that he and Salman Khan Films are dacoits. The Defendant has been spreading malicious falsehoods and defaming Mr. Salman Khan consistently over several months, clearly with a view to draw attention to himself.” Above: Salman Khan.

In August 2021, National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee also filed a case against KRK. According to reports, his lawyer filed a defamation case in an Indore Court against KRK. The actor’s lawyer Paresh S Joshi said KRK tarnished the actor’s image in a tweet posted on July 26 in connection with his new web series ‘The Family Man Season 2’. In the tweet, KRK accused Bajpayee of being addled with substances and claimed that he doesn’t review web shows featuring alleged drug addicts. Above: Kamaal R khan and Hrithik Roshan

In 2014, KKR tweeted that no Bollywood actress had a posterior to match Kim Kardashian’s after the global reality TV star posed for ‘Paper’ magazine — and ‘broke the internet’. He didn’t stop at that as he went on to conduct a survey about Bollywood actresses. Soon after, he was called out by Sonakshi Sinha over this distasteful tweet. The actress tweeted: “Please RT this if you think @kamaalrkhan is a woman disrespecting waste of space and deserves to be hung upside down and given 4 tight slaps (sic).” Above: Kamaal R khan and Guru Randhawa.