Hansal Mehta in a touching gesture offered to cast Shweta Basu Prasad, the actress caught in a sex racket controversy, in his film. We look at other stars who got a second chance in spite of notoriety

Celebrities often court controversy and get entangled in a legal imbroglio but some of them, fortunately, receive immense support from the industry.

Recently, actress Shweta Basu Prasad was arrested in connection with a high-profile sex racket, but the industry came to her support and director Hansal Mehta even said that he would cast the young starlet in his next film.

Hansal Mehta
The Shahid director, who is currently in the US, wrote on a social networking website: "Stop posting pictures of Shweta. Put out the pictures of her wealthy clients and the pimp. Expose the scumbags not the soft target. I intend to offer Shweta Prasad a role in my next film. She was so good in Makdee." He's not the only one. Other film personalities like Vishal Bharadwaj, Karan Johar, Imtiaz Ali, Abhishek Kapoor, Rensil D'Silva, Amole Gupte, Abbas Tyrewala, Shreyas Talpade and other have released a statement in solidarity with Shweta requesting the film industry to "empathise rather than judge or label her".

Hitlist takes a look at a few other celebrities who were accused - but not convicted by law - and have been accepted again after a break.

Subhash Kapoor

Subhash Kapoor was arrested after he was allegedly accused of molestation by an actress and was later released on bail. In February, the controversy emerged when Geetika Tyagi posted a video online suggesting the Jolly LLB director sexually abused her during a confrontation in presence of his wife, Dimple Kharbanda, and director Atul Sabharwal, (who happened to be Tyagi's boyfriend). The incident created a furore. Kapoor is currently shooting for his film Guddu Rangeela.

Monica Bedi

The former girlfriend of the underworld don Abu Salem was behind bars in connection with a case of passport forgery. After coming out of jail, she featured in quite a few reality television shows like Bigg Boss, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Desi Girl. She was offered the second season of Swayamvar, but declined it citing that she wanted to focus on work. Monica returned to the small screen with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's TV show Saraswatichandra in which she essayed the on-screen mother of actor Gautam Rode.

Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja, who was away from films after getting embroiled in an alleged rape case, is now making a steady comeback on the silver screen with Anees Bazmee's comedy-drama Welcome Back. In June 2009, the actor's domestic help had lodged a police complaint against him alleging rape at his residence. Shiney was arrested and subsequently sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He is currently out on bail. The actor had started his career with the critically-acclaimed Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi in 2005, later joined mainstream and gave hit films like Gangster, Woh Lamhe, Life in a Metro, among others.

Ajay Jadeja
Ajay Jadeja was one of the most loved players of the Indian team The findings of a CBI inquiry got him guilty of match-fixing following which he was banned by the the BCCI for five years. Ajay acted in Khel (2003) alongside Sunny Deol and Suniel Shetty and was a lead actor in Pal Pal Dil Ke Saat (2009). He has made constant appearances on news channels as a cricket anchor/analyst. Ajay even participated in the celebrity dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in its first season and appeared on Comedy Circus as well. He also did a cameo in Abhishek Kapoor's cricket-centric Kai Po Che.

Sreesanth

Disgraced ex-cricketer Sreesanth emerged as a proven dancer on the tube in the dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. As per reports, Sreesanth will debut in a Bollywood movie soon which is a remake of a Malayalam film. Post the spot-fixing episode at the Indian Premier League in 2013, he has been a regular face on television. The infamous cricketer is all set to star in a Telugu film too. He is also a part of a musical band called 9's and also writes lyrics.