Shilpi Raj, Preity Zinta, Mallika Sherawat – Celebrities who were embroiled in MMS controversies

Bhojpuri actress Shilpi Raj recently hit headlines after an MMS, attributed to her, went viral on the internet. Speaking exclusively to ETimes, she denied being in the video and tagged it as a ‘saazish to pull her down because she's doing well as a singer in her career'. “I haven't seen the MMS. I was told that it was attributed to my name. I wonder who the girl in the MMS is. The girl in the video is not me. Ye saari koi saazish hai mujhe badnaam karne ki,” Shilpi had told ETimes.

Take a look at other actresses who have been embroiled in MMS controversies.

At one time Mallika Sherawat used to be controversy’s favourite child. Over a decade ago, an offending graphic MMS of a lookalike of Mallika went viral on the internet. The actress had then approached the Cyber Crime Cell and Mumbai Crime Branch. "It's not me. Somebody is behind this for sure. And it's a menacing act. This harms my dignity, my reputation and my name. Today it's me, tomorrow it could be anybody. Because I am innocent, I didn't want to keep quiet and lodged complaints with the concerned authorities," Mallika had told TOI in 2005.

Manisha Koirala had also reacted strongly after a fake clip of hers was circulated on the internet. She had told TOI, “Things like these don't deserve any notice or attention not only from me but from anyone. Tomorrow, they can make a contraband film of any known personality or any ordinary girl and get away with it. We must not waste too much of our energy and attention on such material. I wish the legal system could protect those who are innocent victims.”

A few years ago, ‘3 Idiots’ actress Mona Singh had also fallen prey to an MMS scandal. A clip doing the rounds was attributed to the actress, who filed a police complain reporting the matter. “It is just completely appalling and disgraceful that someone on the web can go to the extent of morphing my face onto someone else’s body to create a sensational video! We have filed a complaint at the Cyber Crime Cell and are hoping to find the culprit. People need to realise that before being actors, we’re respectable women and have family and friends who we are answerable to and who get affected by negativity that is thrown in our direction," Mona had told BT in 2013.

An email claiming to feature an MMS of Preity had gone viral years ago. Clarifying why she is not the girl in the clip, the actress had told TOI, "I have seen the e-mail. This is definitely not me. The girl in the image has a much bigger frame and is also much taller than me. I do not sunbathe because that affects the continuity in my films. This lady in question has tan marks. Nobody takes a bath without drawing the shower curtain. In such hotels, you also have a separate shower area which will never face the door. My hair has never been cut that short. The only time I had trimmed it down to this length was for 'Koi... Mil Gaya'. But even then, it was cut in an even length and not in steps. This lady shared some resemblance with my face from a distance. But that's it. At the end of it all, I'd like to say that too much of time and energy is being wasted over reactions to these MMS clips.”