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Abhishek Bachchan - Aishwarya Rai separation rumours
Rumours of their split had been doing the rounds of internet for a while but what added fuel to the fire was Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's separate entry at a Industrialist's wedding with her daughter Aaradhya sans the Bachchan family. The same wedding also had the Bachchan family in attendance who posed together along with Abhishek. However, by the end of the year, the couple seem to have moved past their differences as they put up an united , the couple got together for a wedding as well as Aaradhya’s annual function, putting a dent in the rumours.
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Oscar tussle
Two great movies but which one should represent India at the Oscars. Payal Kapadia's surreal ode to sisterhood and Mumbai-All We Imagine As Light- won the Grand Prix at Cannes. Most felt it would be the obvious choice for India to send as its official entry to Oscars 2025. Instead, it send Kiran Rao's critically acclaimed Laapataa Ladies. The film may have been called one of the best, but many felt AWIAL had a better chance at the Oscars. Laapataa Ladies did not make it to the final list of the Oscar Best International Film category, while AWIAL may still be included as an independent entry.
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The tragedy of Pushpa 2
Pushpa 2 was released amid fanfare and hype. But the film's release was marred with controversy almost immediately. Actor Allu Arjun arrived at Hyderabad's theatre for the premiere of the film and the crowd surged to catch a glimpse of the actor. One woman died as a stampede ensued and her son remains critical in hospital. Days later, the actor was arrested as Police accused him of not adhering to their advisory of leaving the venue soon after the incident occurred. Arjun has paid Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the victim's family which fans have criticised as too little compensation for a tragedy like this.
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Fall of Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Perhaps the most controversial celebrity of 2024 was Sean 'Diddy' Combs who was arrested on charges of kidnapping, drugging and coercing women into sexual activities, occasionally under threat of violence. Since his arrest in September, Diddy has been accussed by several individuals including minors and Jay Z's name too has cropped as one of the accussed along with Diddy.
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It Ends With Blake
It Ends With Us stars Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively promoted the film separately, sparking rumours of a cold war. Later in the year, the rumours came true when Lively filed a sexual harassment case against Justin. Baldoni is yet to file a countersuit but has denied all the allegations against him.
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Khan in danger
Politician Baba Siddqiui's murder by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has once again put the Bollywood fraternity- particularly Salman Khan and his family on the edge. Earlier in April, gunshots were fired outside of Khan's Mumbai home. Since Siddqui's death, Salman has received death threats more than once so has Shah Rukh Khan. The security of the stars have been beefed up.
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The unstoppable Diljit Dosanjh
Diljit Dosanjh made fans swoon to his tunes world over this year. When the Punjabi munda came to the motherland with his Dil Luminati tour, India rejoiced. Some had problems meanwhile. The concert faced roadblocks in several cities including Hyderabad and Ahmedabad and petitions were filed by the government to ban him from singing songs on alcohol and drugs. Diljit took it in his stride but also sent out a strong message on politics.
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Ticket Faux Pas
Coldplay and Diljit Dosanjh's concerts drew in a huge amount of crowds and led to online queuing up on various ticketing agencies. It also raised the issue of ticket scalping with tickets worth ₹6000 being sold at prices as high as over a lakh by agencies outside the official ticketing sites. There were also complaints of mismanagement as well and many were left without a ticket despite queuing up.
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Friends turned foes
Nayanthara and Dhanush got into a legal tussle over the former’s documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairytale. Dhanush filed a suit against Nayanthara for using a three-second BTS footage from their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. She issued an open letter against him on Instagram, which got support from several actresses in the film industry.
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Credit War
Stree 2 was the first bonafide blockbuster of 2024. But instead of celebrating the film's success, its lead actors- Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao's respective publicity teams got into a cold war over who gets to take the credit for the film's success. Other actors from the film, including Abhishek Bannerjee and Aparshakti Khurana also gave in their take in the whole discussion.
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End of Bennifer 2.0
When Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck rekindled their decade-old relationship and hitched in 2022, many felt that true love did exist. But the romance was short-lived. The first half of the year, rumours floated around that the two had separated and spent their summer apart. In August, on the couple's second wedding anniversary, Lopez filed for divorce from Ben Affleck.