It is not often that a star admits to or apologises for something that concerns them. And as social media has become a breeding ground for celebrity memes and jokes, stars are ridiculed for the slightest of faux pas and on several occasions, find themselves attracting unsolicited attention. But, there are some B-Town folk who have been sporting enough to take it in their stride or laugh at themselves while others don't mind taking a step down to explain the situation. hitlist takes a look at a few Bollywood faces who not only took on the brickbats gracefully this year but also attempted to clear the air around them...
When Anushka Sharma found her alleged lip job becoming a topic of discussion among netizens, she was prompt enough to log into her social media account and give out a fairly long explanation
Bugging the shutterbugs
Shraddha Kapoor was banned by press photographers in June for allegedly ignoring their requests for pictures during the promotions of her film 'Ek Villain'. It was said that the actress would either refuse to be clicked or look down.
Shraddha Kapoor
At times, her team accompanying her would prevent her from being snapped - once they kept the photojournalists waiting for more than two hours. That infuriated the shutterbugs, who decided to ban her. Finally, Shraddha organised a special meeting with the photographers and apologised to them.
Staying abreast
In September, Deepika Padukone decided to take on an English daily after it posted her cleavage-baring photos shot from a top angle on its website. Any other actress would not have reacted to the images, but Dippy decided to speak out.
Deepika Padukone
She posted: "Yes I am a woman. I have breasts. I have a cleavage. You got a problem?" The actress followed up her post with a longer response, part of which reads: "A character may demand that I be clothed from head to toe or be completely naked, and it will be my choice as an actor whether or not I take either. Understand that this is a ROLE and not REAL, and it is my job to portray whatever character I choose to play convincingly." Reactions and counter reactions followed, much to the amusement of netizens.
LOL and how
Alia Bhatt's goof-up on Karan Johar's chat show - naming Prithviraj Chavan as India's president - was perhaps talked about more than the Prez's election itself.
Alia Bhatt
After facing a barrage of jokes, she sportingly agreed to be part of a laugh-at-herself video that went viral in September. Made by a group of stand-up comedians All India Bakchod, the video was a hilarious take on Alia's IQ and showed her taking admission in a mental gym to strengthen her grey cells.
Gulping insults
This is something new in Bollywood. Stars willingly gulping down the insults thrown at them - although in jest. They also patiently listened to the controversies surrounding them. On the eve of the release of their film 'Kill Dil' in November, Ranveer Singh, Parineeti Chopra, Ali Zafar appeared in The Viral Fever's Barely Speaking with Arnub show.
Ranveer Singh, Parineeti and Ali
Its online video went viral as the host with attitude grilled the stars. He thought Ranveer was Rannvijay and even asked Parineeti what kind of a name she had. Normally, B-Town stars would squirm in their seats when asked such questions, but these young stars gallantly fielded the volley of uncomfortable questions.
Lip service
When Anushka Sharma along with her Bombay Velvet director, Anurag Kashyap, appeared on Karan Johar's chat show in February, her obviously enhanced lips took centrestage. That the actress got a (bad) lip job done became a talking point across social media platforms. Not many actresses would even admit that they had gone under the knife, but realising that she had been drawing a lot of attention over her changed look, Anushka decided to give her version of the story online.
Anushka Sharma
She wrote: "For a short while now I have been using a temporary lip enhancing tool and that along with make up techniques (I have learnt over the years) is the reason why there might be a change in the appearance of my lips. Having stated this fact let me very vehemently assure everyone that I have by no means gone 'under the knife' or done any kind of 'plastic surgery' or undergone any intrusive procedure."
According to the actress, the new look was for her upcoming film 'Bombay Velvet', a period drama where she plays a jazz singer of the 1960s. Anushka took to the social network to make the clarification as the story about her lips had taken "a scary direction and things had been 'blown out of proportion." What's more, she also mentioned that some of the jokes doing the rounds brought a smile to her lips.
Out of sight
Even though he was basking in the spotlight, Honey Singh decided to vanish from the public eye one fine day. While there have been intense speculations about his sudden disappearance, the rapper-singer took to social media to explain his stand.
Honey Singh
He wrote: "Dear well wishers and Fans, it's true that your desikalakar has not been keeping well and will be out of action for a while. Due to his illness, he has been advised strict bed rest. As a family, we are really thankful to a lot of people for supporting him and us during his illness. He shall be back real soon to do what he does best,i.e to entertain you all. Keep him in your prayers and keep supporting and loving apka apna Yo Yo Honey Singh."
Kicking a**
Sonakshi Sinha found herself as a contender for one of the biggest butts in Bollywood in a Twitter poll, courtesy the publicity-hungy Kamaal R Khan in November. B-Town stars would rather not talk about their derriere. But not Sona.
Sonakshi Sinha
She responded on Twitter calling KRK a "waste of space" who disrespects women and "deserves to be hung upside down and given 4 tight slaps." KRK then went into damage control mode and deleted the tweet and disqualified Sonakshi from his contest. Though KRK has irked several Bollywood celebrities in the past, they have preferred to ignore him.