India / Film industry wasn't like this when Jaya ji & I joined: Ravi Kishan on drugs

New Delhi: "I expected Jaya-ji  (Jaya Bachchan) to support what I said,"  actor-politician Ravi Kishan said as the war of words intensified over his statement in parliament of alleged rampant drug usage in the film industry. The BJP MP from eastern Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur, who on Monday raised drugs-related allegations that have emerged against the film industry in the Sushant Singh Rajput probe, also said he is the son of a priest who "crawled his way up".

"I expected Jaya-ji to support what I said. Not everyone in the industry consumes drugs but those who do are part of a plan to finish the world''s largest film industry. When Jaya-ji joined, the situation was not like this but now we need to protect the industry," Mr Kishan told news agency ANI.

Jaya Bachchan, veteran actor and Samajwadi Party MP, slammed Ravi Kishan for his remarks in the Lok Sabha yesterday and charged that the film industry was being defamed, saying they are biting the hands that feed them.

Without taking names, Ms Bachchan, 72, said she was "really embarrassed and ashamed" with a Lok Sabha member's statement on Monday.

"Jis thaali me khaate hain usi me chched karte hain," Ms Bachchan said in the Rajya Sabha today. Her remark in Hindi, draws from the idiom, "Bite the hand that feeds you".

"But people who have made their name in this film industry have called it a gutter. I completely disagree," she said,  indirectly referring to actor Kangana Ranaut's recent remarks calling Bollywood a "gutter".

Ms Bachchan was speaking during the zero hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Reacting to Jaya Bachchan's angry comments, Ravi Kishan stood by his drugs-use allegations, claiming a "conspiracy to finish our film industry by hollowing it out". He had earlier alleged a "conspiracy" by Pakistan and China to destroy the country's younger citizens.

"There is a conspiracy to finish our film industry by hollowing it out. As a responsible member of film industry, it is not just my right but my duty to raise it in parliament and Jaya-ji should respect that. I am just a son of a priest who crawled his way up and has worked in 600 films," Mr Kishan said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau is investigating charges of drug-dealing and use based on chats found on the phone of Rhea Chakraborty, a 28-year-old actor being investigated over the death of her boyfriend, popular star Sushant Singh Rajput, on June 14.

Rhea Chakraborty, who is in a Mumbai jail, has been accused of organising drugs for Sushant Singh Rajput. The anti-drugs agency called her "an active member of a drugs syndicate".