Rakesh has had several controversial incidents throughout his career. One major controversy involved kangana Ranaut, when in 2016 Rakesh publicly called kangana a "silly ex", after kangana accused karan Johar of nepotism. This episode sparked a huge media outcry and added fuel to the fire of the existing debate on nepotism in Bollywood. Another controversy involved music director Ram Sampat and the rights to a song he composed for one of Rakesh's films. Ram Sampat claimed that Rakesh did not pay him his dues, and took legal action against the director. The case was eventually settled out of court after much media attention.