Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has become the first Bollywood celebrity to extend his public support to actor Taapsee Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap after the Income Tax department raided their premises in Mumbai and Pune in an alleged tax evasion case.
Sinha took to Twitter to write, “Kashyap and Taapsee I love you both. Just.” Taapsee had acted in two of Sinha’s critically acclaimed films namely Mulk and Thappad. While Mulk also starring Rishi Kapoor promoted communal harmony in India, Thappad was related to domestic violence in Indian society.
AActor Swara Bhasker too took to Twitter to express her solidarity for Taapsee as she wrote, “Appreciation tweet for @taapsee who is an amazing girl with courage and conviction that is rare to see now days.. Stand strong warrior!”
Taapsee and Kashyap, who are both in Pune for a film shoot, were questioned by the IT officials on Wednesday.
Kashyap and Taapsee I love you both. Just.
— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) March 3, 2021
When asked to comment on the IT raids, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar was quoted as saying, “The Income Tax department probes someone based on whatever information they get. The issue goes to court later.”
Both Taapsee and Anurag Kashyap have been fierce critics of the Indian government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taapsee was drawn into controversies on several occasions after Kangana Ranaut took potshots at her by calling the Pink actor a cheap copy of her. Taapsee had recently slammed Indian celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajay Devgn and Lata Mangeshkar after they chose to parrot the government’s line to counter Rihanna on the farmers’ protest. Taapsee’s tweet slamming Indian celebrities had gone viral, clocking nearly three lakh likes and more than one lakh shares on Twitter.
Kashyap had courted controversy last year after he arrived outside the offices of Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV with a pair of slippers with comedian Kunal Kamra.