"I am against this hype and trial"
The arrest of popular Indian comedians Bharti Singh and her husband, Haarsh Limbachiyaa by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has deeply shocked their television colleagues.
The NCB arrested the couple in connection to its ongoing drugs probe. Bharti and Haarsh both confessed to the consumption of cannabis.
On Saturday, November 21, 2020, the NCB raided their production office and house. The agency seized 86.5 gms of cannabis from both places.
According to an interaction with Hindustan Times, Bharti Singh and Haarsh’s colleagues have reacted to news of their arrest.
Comedian Raju Srivastava, who has worked closely with Bharti Singh, said:
“I have worked with Bharti a lot. I was surprised when I got to know about her arrest first and thought it’s fake.
“Then when news channels contacted me, I said maybe a drug peddler named Bharti to implicate her but then I was told she has confessed.
“I was shocked and sad. This is like an allegation on our entire comedian fraternity, if we go to perform anywhere now, people will look at us with doubt like,’ Raju iss age mein bhi dhamaal kar raha hai’, our numbers will be less.”
Indian actor Iqbal Khan, who also worked with Bharti revealed that he does not know much about the ongoing case. He explained:
“I had worked with her on the finale episode of an action reality show a few years back and have bumped into her here and there.
“I think she is immensely talented. Having said that, I don’t know much about the case, so I would avoid commenting much.
“And, I would like to believe that it’s not like after Bollywood, now TV is the next target.
“The idea is to clean the society of this drug menace and it has nothing to do with your profession or line of work.
“But I am against this hype and trial by a certain section of media around celebrities. I feel celebrities are an easy target.”
Indian singer and actress Subuhi Joshi revealed that the drugs probe is taking attention away from Sushant Singh Rajput’s case. She said:
“The news was quite shocking. I have worked with her in a comedy reality show. She is extremely talented.”
“I think after Bollywood, now the focus is on (the) TV industry. But not just in our industry, even outside drug is being consumed and I feel it’s time the issue is being addressed.
“While our society needs to be cleansed of the drug threat, I also feel that the attention has now shifted from Sushant Singh Rajput’s case from (where) it all started.
“Some of those who were fighting for his justice seem to have moved on … I just hope amid all these we get a closure on Sushant’s case too.”
Fellow comedian and TV personality, Suresh Menon spoke about how drugs are not worth it:
“There’s a psyche in our country regarding consumption of drugs, and it’s a personal choice if one wants to consume drugs and alcohol, I firmly believe none of these are good for health and make (the) physique weak.
“The news about Bharti was shocking, and I am not being prude shocked here ki ‘aise kaise hua’, it’s like sad that years of reputation… it’s not worth it at the end of the day.
“Having said that, there’s no need to look down upon her or condemn her for usage. It does not make her a bad person from any angle, or doesn’t take away from her talent.”
Actor Karan Patel, who does not know the couple that well, said:
“It was just one reality show that I did with her. I don’t know anything else about her beyond that. It is strictly their personal business. I am not aware of what she does in her life.
“I do not want to comment on that much. I don’t believe that it is a case of targeting (the) TV industry next. Let the case take its own course is all that I would like to say.”
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