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What’s showbiz without juicy controversies and this year gave us ample chance to gossip about them. Here’s a compilation of some of the biggest controversies that made headlines in 2019.

Title change of Mental Hai Kya to Judgemental Hai Kya

Bollywood's queen of controversies Kangana Ranaut's film Judgemental Hai Kya landed in the soup right before its release and the makers had to bow down to the pressure and change its title. Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) wrote a letter to the censor board and objected to the previous title Mental Hai Kya saying it was "discriminative, stigmatizing, degrading and inhuman in projecting mental disorders and persons who suffer from mental disorders."

In fact, The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and actress Deepika Padukone's The Live Love Laugh Foundation (TLLLF) also condemned the scrapped title and poster of the film.

In another instance, Hungarian visual artist Flora Borsi accused the makers of Rajkummar Rao-Kangana starrer Judgemental Hai Kya of plagiarism. Borsi said that posters of the film bore inspiration of her trademark style, and said such plagiarism of a freelance artist's work was shameful.

PM Narendra Modi biopic release date changed due to ongoing polls

Vivek Oberoi starrer biopic on the Indian Prime Minister, titled PM Narendra Modi, was stopped from releasing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. It was set for theatrical debut on April 5 but hit screens only on May 24. It was opined that there is high probability that a particular political party will gain electoral mileage if the film is permitted to be released during polls.

Protests against Panipat While Arjun Kapoor was hoping to pull off a winner here, Panipat was dragged into dirt first over one of the film's dialogue. Then after release, protests against the film escalated for allegedly portraying king Surajmal in a bad light. The film is based on the third battle of Panipat fought between the Marathas and the Mughals.

Jaipur, Bharatpur, Bikaner became hot grounds for people speaking out against Panipat while demanding immediate ban on the film. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot took to Twitter to demand intervention of the Censor Board to settle the locals' claims with regard to Ashutosh Gowariker's film. The controversial part was later deleted, confirm sources.


Bollywood films banned in Pakistan and vice-versa

Post revoking Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan announced a blanket ban on Indian films releasing in the nation. Pakistan has been a hot territory, especially for films with big star-cast. However, many members of the Indian film fraternity like Madhur Bhandarkar, Sonu Sood and others maintained that the ban Hindi films in Pakistan was of little consequence.

Apart from refusing release of various Indian films regularly on grounds of censorship, Pakistan has been refusing release of Indian films almost every time the political atmosphere between the two nations became tense.

Earlier in the year, following the Pulwama terror attack, a blanket ban on Pakistani artistes in Bollywood was also imposed by All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA). Atif Aslam's two tracks--one from Salman Khan's Bharat and another one from Ajay Devgn's De De Pyaar De--were reportedly dropped after the ban on Pakistani artists in India.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

In January, Kangana made her directorial debut with biopic on Rani Laxmi Bai titled Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi. Director Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi, better known as Krish, was ousted from the film and Kangana took credit for co-directing. In interviews, after disassociating from the project, Krish said that Kangana had been unprofessional and that he had, in fact, made 70 percent of the film.

Mishti Chakraborty, who plays the role of Kashibai in Manikarnika also criticized Kangana for chopping off her role from the film.

Also, rightwing Shri Rajput Karni Sena opposed Manikarnika as it shows Queen Laxmibai dancing to a special number, saying it was against tradition. They asked the makers of the film to show them the movie before its release. However, Kangana did not pay heed and even said in an interview, "I am a Rajput and I will destroy them."

Zaira Wasim quits Bollywood

Zaira Wasim, the Kashmiri girl who became famous overnight after her superb debut in Aamir Khan's Bollywood blockbuster Dangal, said goodbye to her film career. In a detailed post on her Facebook page, the 18-year-old cited religious reasons for her decision to quit her promising career in Bollywood. Her announcement came as a shock to many. She said she was not happy with the line of work as it interfered with her faith and religion.