"I realised very late that it was a trap"

Some people never learn. Bollywood baddie Shakti Kapoor's brush with a sting operation on India TV, telecast yesterday, was not the only incident in his diary. Music channel MTV tried a similar gimmick on him in February, two months after his India TV tryst, and the screen villain fell for that trap too, hook, line and sinker. Unfortunately, MTV has not been able to telecast the episode featuring Shakti in its show MTV Bajao'D, as the actor refused to sign the no objection certificate needed to air the footage. In our story last month, Shakti Kapoor Ko Bakra Banaya! we had broken the story of how Shakti had succumbed to an 'Irish journalist's' interview on 'sex'. Shakti, who has been accused of using his name in the industry to exploit young talents under the guise of shaping their career in filmdom, was splashed all over Rajat Sharma's India TV the whole of Sunday in the Suhaib Ilyasi anchored India's Most Wanted. So, why did India TV take three months to air the explosive material? "We were conducting research on big names that used their name to exploit newcomers. We could not flash out one stray incident. We were waiting to gather more evidence. We were carrying out other operations. Now we have enough evidence against him to prove him guilty in the court of law," avers Suhaib. On the other hand, a livid Shakti is still nursing his wounds. "I am being framed. India TV is a pro BJP medium. I campaigned for the Congress in the national elections last year. The issue is out of a political grudge," he says. "The portions where the girl behaved indecently have been cleverly deleted. I said Yash 'groomed' the actress, which has been substitutted by the word f****d," he clarifies. While he is meeting his lawyers for his next course action, Shakti has just a lame excuse about the MTV episode. "I realised something was fishy. But by that time a lot of conversation was already filmed." "People carrying out sting operations should be punished. They have no right to intrude anyone's privacy. In the US, anyone guilty of intrusion of privacy could be made to cough up crores of rupees as fine. People may forget this case in two days but it should serve as a warning for others," he explodes. We persist. Why did Shakti Kapoor not realize what he is getting into, particularly for MTV, since he had already been scalded by India TV? One can be fooled once, but how can one fall prey to the same trap twice? How come he repeated his folly, once caught on India TV? These questions remain unanswered. Watch this space for more on the issue.