An explosive email from the content head of the HotShots app dealing with pornographic content has revealed that the makers wanted bold, "topless" artists for their upcoming project "Khwaab" (dream).
On 14 August 2020, at 5:25 pm, an email was sent to two artists - Paras Randhawa and Jyoti Thakur - asking them to shoot a "bold" video. The email requested that the lead actress go topless and do racy scenes.
HotShots further stated in their contract that if their team approves of the video made by Randhawa and Thakur, then it would be purchased and the duo would be paid INR 300,000 ($4,030). In addition, all rights and intellectual property rights would remain with HotShots. However, if the team didn't like it, the creators could sell the video elsewhere.
According to police sources reported by Zee News, the email was also sent by HotShots' content team to an artist who had worked in the TV industry and Bollywood, and was about to be a part of businessman Raj Kundra's "Khwab" project.
Law enforcement reportedly verified this with Kundra's WhatsApp chats with his associates that were recently leaked in the public domain, revealing how they had been making millions every day. It also claimed that such contracts were sealed with many other artists.
Meanwhile, Kundra’s wife, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, who is yet to share her reaction to the incident, posted her first Instagram story since her husband's arrest. She highlighted the portion of the quote that addressed dealing with her challenges.
"I take a deep breath, knowing that I'm lucky to be alive. I have survived challenges in the past and will survive challenges in the future. Nothing need distract me from living my life today".
"Do not look back in anger; or forward in fear but around in awareness. We look back in anger at the people who've hurt us, the frustrations we've felt, the bad luck we've endured. We look forward in fear at the possibility that we might lose our job, contract a disease, or suffer the death of a loved one. The place we need to be is right here, right now—not looking anxiously at what has been or what might be, but fully aware of what is", it further read.
Several actresses such as Poonam Pandey, Sherlyn Chopra, Puneet Kaur, and Sagarika Shona Suman have raised their voice against Kundra and his associates in connection with the porn racket.