The world of Bollywood has always dazzled with fame and fortune. Behind the red carpets and flashing cameras, though, there is another side, one filled with greed, ambition, and scandal. Few couples reflected this mix of glamour and business as much as actress Shilpa Shetty and her husband, businessman Raj Kundra. For years, they presented themselves as the perfect power couple, combining Shilpa’s star power with Kundra’s business ventures, their wealth with wellness, and their ambition with aspiration.
Shilpa became a household name in the 1990s and later reinvented herself as a fitness icon and reality show judge, admired by fans across generations. Raj Kundra, a British-Indian entrepreneur, carved out a reputation in real estate, technology, cricket, and media. Together, they became a brand, one that seemed to represent success in the era of globalisation.
But beneath the polished image, a series of scandals, loan fraud, cryptocurrency dealings, and a pornography racket slowly began to tear down their empire. What followed was not just the downfall of one couple but also a reflection of a larger crisis of morality and trust in Bollywood.
The rise and the Rs 60.4 crore fall
The beginning of their troubles lay in a business idea that once promised to revolutionise India’s shopping culture. In 2015, the couple launched Best Deal TV Private Limited, pitched as India’s first celebrity-driven home shopping channel. The concept was new, the timing perfect, and the presence of Shilpa Shetty gave it credibility. The company attracted funding and enthusiasm from both investors and consumers.
But within a few years, the shine wore off. By 2023, the company stood at the centre of a Rs 60.4 crore loan fraud case. Businessman Deepak Kothari, who had advanced money to the firm through Lotus Capital Finance Services, alleged that the funds meant for scaling up operations had instead been siphoned off for the couple’s personal indulgences, lavish vacations, luxury purchases, and private investments.
For Kothari, the betrayal was particularly bitter. In April 2016, when doubts arose about the company’s financial health, Shilpa Shetty herself personally signed a guarantee to reassure him. Yet, by September, she resigned as a director. Soon after, insolvency proceedings were underway, and by 2024, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had acknowledged the company’s financial collapse.
Kothari, however, was unwilling to let the matter end in liquidation. He approached the Mumbai Police, and the case was handed over to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW). Given the couple’s frequent overseas travel, authorities issued a lookout circular, effectively restricting their movements. For the investigators, the question was simple: had the borrowed funds ever been used for business growth, or were they always destined to vanish into private coffers?
Kundra’s history with controversy
For Raj Kundra, this was not the first brush with scandal. In fact, his name had surfaced in multiple high-profile cases even before Best Deal TV collapsed.
One of the biggest was the cryptocurrency scam of 2017. The Enforcement Directorate alleged that scam kingpin Amit Bhardwaj had duped investors with promises of a 10 percent monthly return on Bitcoin investments.
Kundra, investigators claimed, received 285 Bitcoins, valued today at over Rs 150 crore, to set up a mining farm in Ukraine. The ED eventually seized assets worth Rs 97.79 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Kundra, in his defence, claimed he too was cheated. But in the public imagination, the episode cemented his image as a businessman who was never too far from murky waters.
Then came the scandal that nearly destroyed him, the Hotshots porn app case of 2021. Kundra was arrested by Mumbai Police for producing and distributing pornographic content via the mobile app. Several women came forward, alleging that they were lured into semi-nude or explicit shoots under false promises of acting breaks. Investigations linked the app to suspicious transactions worth ₹9.9 crore.
The fallout was dramatic. Kundra spent 63 days inside Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, where reports said he lost over 13 kilograms, surviving on minimal food. On his release, he called it the “darkest period” of his life and insisted he was made a scapegoat. But the damage to his reputation was irreversible, and worse still, it spilled over to Shilpa Shetty, who had no direct involvement but found herself hounded by paparazzi, courtroom reporters, and brand partners wary of association.
The ripple effects
The numbers attached to the Kundra-Shetty saga, Rs 60.4 crore in loans, Rs 97.79 crore in seized crypto-linked assets, 285 Bitcoins, Rs 9.9 crore linked to a porn app, represent not just financial irregularities, but shattered trust. Behind each figure were ordinary investors, small businesspeople, and aspirants who had trusted the sheen of celebrity.
Businessman Deepak Kothari was not alone in his frustration. Many investors admitted they had parted with money purely because Shilpa Shetty’s face was associated with the brand. Her guarantee was seen as an unshakable assurance. When things fell apart, the sense of betrayal was both financial and emotional.
The properties they owned, a luxurious Juhu bungalow and a lakeside retreat at Pawna, also came under scrutiny. Every detail of their lifestyle was picked apart in tabloids, creating a narrative that their empire was less about hard-earned business acumen and more about questionable shortcuts.
Shilpa Shetty: Collateral damage
For Shilpa Shetty, the scandals have been a personal nightmare. She had distanced herself from Best Deal TV as early as 2016 and insisted she was never involved in her husband’s business decisions. Yet, her name appeared in complaints, and her public appearances were inevitably linked with Raj Kundra’s troubles.
While she continues to act, endorse brands, and run her fitness ventures, her image has taken a dent. Paparazzi photos of her entering courts or walking out of airports with weary expressions symbolized not just a celebrity under siege but also the precarious position of women whose careers become hostage to their partner’s actions.
Bollywood’s culture and decline
What makes the Shetty-Kundra saga especially telling is that it is not an isolated case. It mirrors the larger decline of Bollywood’s moral credibility.
Over the past decade, India’s film industry has been repeatedly rocked by scandal. The drug nexus exposed after Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in 2020 led to the questioning of some of the industry’s biggest names. Investigations into money laundering and tax evasion have touched producers and actors alike. High-profile sexual harassment cases and casting couch scandals have further darkened its reputation.
Equally troubling has been the financial side of celebrity ventures. According to reports, nearly 70 percent of celebrity-led startups launched in India since 2010 have either shut down or fallen into distress. What begins with glamour and hype often ends in insolvency and lawsuits. Examples include Hrithik Roshan’s HRX selling its majority stake, Salman Khan’s BeingInTouch app shutting down, and Suniel Shetty’s Smaaash filing for bankruptcy.
The numbers on public trust are equally stark. A KPMG consumer survey in 2022 revealed that only 38 percent of Indians trusted endorsements by film stars, a steep fall from 62 percent in 2016. The repeated scandals, failed ventures, and lifestyle excesses have corroded the aura that once made Bollywood celebrities appear larger than life.
Even at the box office, Bollywood’s grip is weakening. In 2023, out of more than 140 releases, only eight films achieved clean commercial success. Regional cinema and South Indian blockbusters like RRR and KGF have captured both market share and cultural imagination, while Hindi cinema struggles with formulaic content and dwindling audiences. Streaming has overtaken cinema revenues, but OTT platforms too face criticism for obscenity, poor writing, and lazy storytelling.
The Shetty-Kundra scandals, therefore, are not just about one couple’s downfall. They symbolise an industry-wide crisis: where the pursuit of profit and pleasure increasingly overrides values, accountability, and responsibility.
Why this matters
The lessons from these scandals extend beyond gossip columns. For regulators, it raises the urgent need to scrutinise celebrity-backed ventures more closely. For investors, it is a reminder that blind faith in stardom can be financial suicide. And for society at large, it is a moment to question whether Bollywood still reflects Indian values, or if it has drifted too far into the quicksand of decadence and impunity.
As of September 2025, Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty remain under the cloud of multiple cases. The Rs 60.4 crore loan fraud continues to be investigated by the EOW. The lookout circular against them remains in place. The cryptocurrency case involving 285 Bitcoins is still under the Enforcement Directorate’s lens. The porn app case drags on in Mumbai courts, with Kundra out on bail. Even if the legal system eventually exonerates them, the verdict of the public may be far less forgiving.
A parable of modern bollywood
The Kundra-Shetty saga is more than the fall of a celebrity couple, it is a mirror reflecting Bollywood’s deep moral decay. Their rise and crash perfectly capture the industry’s obsession with wealth, fame, and shortcuts, all while pretending to stand for creativity and culture. Once hailed as a glamorous power couple, they are now little more than reminders of how quickly the facade of stardom crumbles when greed and dishonesty are exposed.
This story lays bare the rot within Bollywood. For decades, the industry has hidden behind glitz, using glamour as a shield from accountability. But today, scandals of drugs, fraud, exploitation, and sleaze have become so routine that they no longer shock anyone. Bollywood, once a cultural vehicle for the dreams of India, now appears hollow, driven more by greed and self-indulgence than by values or art.
The questions this case raises are damning. Has fame in Bollywood become a licence for excess and corruption? Has the industry grown so detached from ordinary Indians that it normalises decadence as culture? Can an industry drowning in scandals and commercial failures ever win back credibility or is its decline permanent?
For Kundra and Shetty, the fall was fast and humiliating. For Bollywood, however, their scandals are just one chapter in a long and shameful story. The lesson is clear: India is no longer willing to accept empty glamour as a replacement for integrity. Bollywood’s mask has slipped, and what lies beneath is an industry struggling with its own irrelevance.
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