Businessman-turned-actor Raj Kundra has opened up about the most difficult period of his life, recalling his arrest in the 2021 pornography case, 63 days in Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail and the support he received from his wife, actor Shilpa Shetty.

In a conversation with ABP News, Kundra claimed he went to the police station after being called in for questioning, without suspecting that he would be arrested. He recalled discovering the development through a post on X while he was still at the 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 said.

He said Shilpa also learnt about his arrest through the news and immediately stepped in to deal with 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.

According to Kundra, Shilpa eventually decided to shut down the businesses overnight rather than attempt to keep them running amid the crisis.

“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.

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Kundra said Shilpa later told him that perhaps his time in prison had ultimately pushed him towards something he had wanted to do for years — 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.

‘There was no place to even put one foot down’

Kundra described the conditions inside Arthur Road Jail as extremely difficult, claiming that hundreds of inmates were housed in a space meant for far fewer people.

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“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.

Raj Kundra recalls surviving on Parle-G and water

Kundra also spoke about the food he was served during his time in custody, describing it as difficult to eat.

“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 recalled.

He said inmates would sometimes buy snacks from a shop and try to make the food more palatable.

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“There was a shop where you could buy something once a month. So you would buy farsan, put it in hot water, mix it with spices and try to make something edible,” he said.

Raj Kundra and Shilpa Shetty.

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.

He claimed he lost around 17-18 kg during the period.

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“I came out frail and skinny. It was survival. But I learnt the art of survival, and I felt so good there,” he said.

Raj Kundra recalls breaking down over Shilpa Shetty divorce rumours

Kundra also recalled a particularly difficult night during his imprisonment, when he heard a report that Shilpa 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 said.

He said the report affected him deeply because his family was his biggest source of strength.

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“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 recalled.

Kundra said everything changed after he was able to speak to Shilpa the following day.

“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.

What is the Raj Kundra pornography case?

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 used to stream adult and pornographic content. Kundra has denied wrongdoing and has maintained that he was not actively involved in creating the alleged content.

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The Mumbai Crime Branch subsequently filed a supplementary chargesheet running into nearly 1,500 pages. Police described Kundra as a key facilitator in the alleged racket, while Kundra’s legal team argued that the videos had been shot with the consent of the performers and disputed his alleged active involvement in content creation.

Kundra spent roughly two months in custody before a Mumbai magistrate granted him bail in September 2021.

Raj Kundra’s other legal cases

The pornography case is not the only major legal matter involving Kundra. He is also an accused in an Enforcement Directorate money-laundering case linked to the alleged GainBitcoin cryptocurrency scheme.

Kundra and Shilpa Shetty were also booked in 2025 in a separate alleged Rs 60.48-crore cheating case linked to their now-defunct company Best Deal TV. The complaint was filed by businessman Deepak Kothari, who alleged that money provided for business purposes was diverted for personal use. The Mumbai Police Economic Offences Wing recorded Kundra’s statement as part of its investigation.

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In 2013, Kundra was also caught up in the IPL betting controversy involving Rajasthan Royals. The Supreme Court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee later imposed a lifetime suspension on him from involvement in cricket-related activities. Kundra has continued to maintain that he was wrongly blamed in the matter.

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