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Journalism of Courage
Flanked by a brigade of Bollywood big shots—Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Govinda among others—Aman Verma finally spoke out at Mehboob Studios on Friday afternoon.
‘‘I’ve really struggled for over eight years, and yes, there have been times when I’ve been propositioned,’’ he said. Lashing out at India TV—the channel played a tape where the actor took the undercover reporter, Ruchi, into his bedroom—he alleged Ruchi and producer Suhaib Ilyasi had been blackmailing him for months.
‘‘For three months, I was threatened that the recordings would be telecast, with a view to extract money from me,’’ said Verma. The girl, he said, had sought his help because he was ‘‘a famous personality.’’ Explaining his silence over the past two days, Verma said he did not wish to react to something so degrading. ‘‘My next legal action will be communicated in 48 hours.’’
“Who is this Ruchi? I really want to see her. These days my mom tells me, ‘Beta ghar jaldi aa jaao, varna Ruchi aa jayegi’,” Salman quipped.
Actor-turned-MP Govinda, along with producer Ravi Chopra, directors Raj Kanwar, David Dhawan and Sunil Darshan among others, backed Verma, urging people not to ‘‘fall for such tricks’’.
“Maybe Aman wanted to marry this girl, that’s why he called her home. How can you say anything else,” Govinda asked. ‘‘The whole thing was a conspiracy to malign the image of the film fraternity,’’ he said. ‘‘TV channels possess a lot of power and should not misuse them.’’
Speaking from Delhi, India TV CEO Rajat Sharma said Verma’s allegations were baseless. ‘‘The tapes are there for everyone to see. He invited our reporter Ruchi to his flat,’’ Sharma said.
