Mumbai: Congress MLA Tikaram Jully on Thursday threw shade on the Rajasthan government for spending over Rs 100 crore of public money to host the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) in the state.
The MLA added to the controversy by labelling Madhuri Dixit, who graced the IIFA 2025, as a ‘second-grade actor.’
During a discussion in Rajasthan Assembly, the MLA, while scrutinising government expenditure, said, “In the name of IIFA, over ₹100 crore of public money was spent. If you saw the hoardings, it was only a promotion of IIFA and not of Rajasthan. What did Rajasthan gain from IIFA? The stars who attended the event did not visit any tourist sites in the state,” he questioned.
“And which big name from the industry appeared? Apart from Shah Rukh Khan, all others were second-grade stars. No other first-grade actor came,” the leader was quoted as saying by The Times of India.
Despite objections from other legislators, the MLA continued, “Now, Madhuri Dixit is a second-grade star, her prime has gone. She was a star in the times of her movies like ‘Dil’ and ‘Beta’.”
“Except for Shah Rukh Khan, no other big actor attended IIFA. What message do you want to convey by inviting just 5-7 actors? There are categories of actors based on their popularity,” he later clarified.
“The actors who are currently popular did not attend. There is no doubt that Madhuri Dixit is a good actor, but the time when she was at the peak of her popularity has passed,” he added.
सरकार ने खाटू श्याम जी, गोविंद देव जी के लिए ₹100 करोड़ नहीं दिए लेकिन #IIFA की फाइल बुलेट ट्रेन की तरह चलाई … #Jaipur l #Rajasthan l #LeaderOfOpposition pic.twitter.com/wrIgEtU9kp
— Tika Ram Jully (@TikaRamJullyINC) March 12, 2025
As the MLA’s remarks landed him in a soup, Congress distanced itself from the controversy, calling it Jully’s “personal views.”
BJP leader and Rajasthan’s Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari condemned Jully for his inappropriate remarks about Madhuri.
“Every actor deserves respect; we should honour their art. He (Tikaram Jully) made an inappropriate comment about a female actor; he should not have said that… What he stated in the Assembly is condemnable,” the BJP leader was quoted as saying by ANI.
