Businessman-turned-actor Raj Kundra has opened up about one of the most difficult phases of his life, recalling his 2021 arrest in the pornography case, his 63 days in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail and the unwavering support he received from his wife, actor Shilpa Shetty. In a recent conversation with ABP News, Kundra also spoke about the hardships he faced in prison, the impact of media reports about his marriage and how the experience eventually gave him what he described as a fresh start.
Raj Kundra recalls being arrested in 2021 pornography case
Kundra said he had gone to the police station after being summoned for questioning and did not anticipate that he would be arrested. According to him, he learnt about his arrest while reading a post on X from inside the police station.“I was called to the police station for questioning and I went there without doubting anything. While I was there, I read on X that I had been arrested. When I asked the police officer, he said, ‘Yes, this is the order,’” Kundra recalled.He said Shilpa Shetty also learnt about the arrest through the news and immediately began dealing with the situation, including arranging legal assistance. Kundra said his businesses in India employed around 4,000 people at the time, leaving Shilpa to grapple with the responsibility of managing the fallout.“Shilpa got the news about my arrest through the news. She got all the best lawyers, but she didn’t know what to do. At that time, my businesses in India employed around 4,000 people. Shilpa kept saying, ‘How will I manage all this?’ I was told I would have to spend 63 days in jail, but I had no idea how long it would actually take,” he said.Kundra recalled that Shilpa eventually decided to shut down the businesses overnight rather than attempt to manage them amid the crisis.
Raj Kundra describes conditions inside Arthur Road Jail
Looking back at his time in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail, Kundra described the prison conditions as extremely difficult. He claimed that the number of inmates housed in some spaces far exceeded their intended capacity.“In a small room where 50 people are supposed to sleep, they put 250 people inside. One person was sleeping above another. There was no place to even put one foot down,” he said.Kundra also recalled the food served to inmates, describing it as difficult to eat. He said several inmates would share a pot of food and that the lentils were served in a manner that made it difficult to identify what was being eaten.“The food was horrible. Five or six fellow inmates would sit around a pot and they would give you a bucket filled with water. You couldn’t see anything, but they would say, ‘This is lentil, eat it,’” he said.He recalled that inmates would sometimes buy farsan from a prison shop and mix it with hot water and spices in an attempt to make the food more palatable.Kundra said he struggled to eat during his 63 days in custody and eventually survived largely on biscuits and water.“Honestly, I wasn’t enjoying it. I wasn’t able to eat it. So for 63 days, I was only eating Parle-G biscuits and water,” he said, adding that he lost around 17-18 kg during the period.“I came out frail and skinny. It was survival. But I learnt the art of survival, and I felt so good there,” he added.
Raj Kundra recalls Shilpa Shetty divorce rumour
Kundra also opened up about a particularly difficult moment during his imprisonment when he heard a media report claiming that Shilpa Shetty was planning to leave him.“I was managing there somehow. One day, news came through the media — it was a rumour, as I later found out — that Shilpa Shetty was leaving Raj Kundra and that we were getting divorced,” he recalled.He said the report deeply affected him because his wife and family were his biggest source of strength. Kundra admitted that he felt suicidal after hearing the news.“That night I couldn’t sleep because I felt like giving up my life. I felt there was no point in living because, for me, there is nothing more important than my wife and my family. I felt like ending my life,” he said.
Shilpa Shetty’s phone call gave Raj Kundra courage
Kundra said speaking to Shilpa the following day changed his state of mind. According to him, she reassured him that the report was false and told him that she continued to trust and support him.“The next day, I spoke to her on the phone. She said, ‘This is rubbish news. I am with you. I trust you. Don’t worry about it.’ After that call, I got so much courage. I thought, ‘Break whatever you want to break. My wife is with me. I can take on the world. I don’t care,’” he said.Kundra also recalled how dramatically his life changed during that period. “My mind wasn’t even working. I was an IPL team owner one day and suddenly I was put behind bars. When I came out, I was the happiest because I felt I had a fresh new start,” he said.
Raj Kundra says prison experience may have pushed him towards acting
According to Kundra, Shilpa later suggested that his prison experience may have inadvertently pushed him towards pursuing a long-standing ambition of becoming an actor.“She says that sometimes she feels I had so much desire to become an actor that perhaps I had to go to jail to come out and become an actor,” he said.Kundra has since ventured into acting, marking a new phase in his career following the controversy and legal proceedings surrounding his 2021 arrest.
What is the Raj Kundra pornography case?
Raj Kundra was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on July 19, 2021, in connection with a case involving the alleged production and distribution of pornographic content through mobile applications. Police alleged that his company, Armsprime Media, had developed the Hotshots app, which was allegedly used to stream adult and pornographic content.Kundra has denied wrongdoing and maintained that he was not actively involved in creating the alleged content. The Mumbai Crime Branch later filed a supplementary chargesheet running into nearly 1,500 pages. Police described Kundra as a key facilitator in the alleged racket, while his legal team disputed his alleged active involvement in content creation and argued that the videos had been shot with the consent of the performers.Kundra spent roughly two months in custody before a Mumbai magistrate granted him bail in September 2021.
