How Bollywood failed Sushant Singh Rajput
Sushant Singh Rajput won the hearts of audiences when he starred in the series, "Pavitra Rishta". He would then go on to impress with stellar performances in "Kai Po Che", "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story" and "Chhichhore".
Unlike many in the industry, Sushant was not a star born out of nepotism, causing many celebrities to ignore him and his talent. However, fans adored him for his commendable acting skills.
On June 14, 2020, Sushant Singh was found dead, hanging from a ceiling fan at his house in Mumbai. While the post-mortem report revealed that the actor committed suicide, his family and fans believed that there was some foul-play at foot.
Recently, a mortuary staff, who worked on Sushant's post-mortem, came forward with the shocking revelation that "it was not suicide, rather it was murder". Sushant's sister shared the news on Facebook account and stated that her heart aches and that their family is in pain. They have not been able to get any closures and they demanded a special investigation by CBI to look into the fresh claims 'diligently'.
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The post read, "If there is an ounce of truth to this evidence, we urge the CBI to really look into it diligently. We have always believed that you guys will do a fair investigation and let us know the truth. Our hearts ache to find closure and justice for Sushant Singh Rajput."
Initially, Sushant's family believed that Rhea Chakraborty was involved in his murder and that she had siphoned off a huge portion of his wealth. However, pretty soon, the case was transformed into a whole Bollywood drug and narcotics racket, which eventually lead to two years without any progress in the investigation surrounding Sushant's death.
While Sushant's death stirred up an outpour of grief and shock, Karan Johar and Shekhar Kapur's tweets acknowledged that there was something wrong with Sushant. However, the two had not reached out to him regarding the issue.
In his post, Karan Johar said he blamed himself "for not being in touch" with Sushant and that he "would never make that mistake again".
"I have felt at times like you may have needed people to share your life with…but somehow I never followed up on that feeling …we live in very energetic and noisy, but still very isolated, times …some of us succumb to these silences and go within," wrote Johar.
Sushant had worked with Karan Johar for his web-film, "Drive", and there were reports that suggested that the actor was annoyed with Johar as he did not inform Sushant about the OTT release date.
Later, Sushant's talent manager would reveal that he was the last person to talk with the actor and that Sushant was upset with Karan Johar. Sushant had worked hard in the film, but the movie didn't turn out well.
In an episode of "Koffee with Karan", Johar and Alia had made fun of Sushant. When Karan asked Alia to select actors to 'kill, marry and hook up' with, Alia responded, "I'll kill Sushant, sorry Sushant."
In another episode, Alia was told to rank three actors: Sushant Singh Rajput, Ranveer Singh, and Varun Dhawan, to which Alia responded, "Sushant Singh Rajput, who?"
Similar to Johar, Shekhar Kapur also tweeted how he wished that Sushant had reached out to him.
"I understood how miserable you were," Kapur wrote on Twitter, "I knew the stories of the folks who let you down so badly that you would cry on my shoulder. What happened was their karma, not yours."
In an old interview with DNA, Sushant had revealed how he had worked hard for Shekhar Kapur's "Paani", spending 11 months on preparations alone. However, Yash Raj Films (YRF) had backed out from financing the movie in the last minute.
In a Facebook post, "Dabbang" director Abhinav Kashyap revealed, "The death of Sushant Singh Rajput brings under scanner the role YRF talent management agency might have played in pushing him towards his suicide, but that is for the authorities to investigate. These people don't make careers. They ruin your career and life."
According to media reports, Sushant Singh and Aditya Chopra had a three-film contract, which prevented him from working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Sushant broke-off his agreement with YRF in the middle of his three-film pact in 2015, and then went on to work with other filmmakers.
Ranveer Singh, who was also under contract with YRF, was permitted to collaborate with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whereas Rajput lost out on big roles due to the contract.
During Sushant Singh's murder investigation, Aditya Chopra was called by police who said that he never had had any issue with Rajput working with any other filmmakers. He refuted the claims by saying that YRF allowed him to work on the biopic of MS Dhoni, with other filmmakers.
Sushant had a three-film deal with YRF, which included: "Shuddh Desi Romance", "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy" and "Paani", the latter was supposed to be directed by Shekhar Kapur, but did not see the light of day. However, YRF claims that "Paani" was shelved due to creative differences between Shekhar Kapur and Chopra, not because of Sushant.
Abhishek Kapoor, who directed the Sushant Singh starrer "Kedarnath", also revealed that the actor was troubled during the filming of the movie and that he became reclusive after its release. The director stated that Sushant's mind was systematically dismantled by the industry.
Sara Ali Khan made her debut on the silver screen with "Kedarnath", and Abhishek believed that the actor felt left out from the media's eyes as everyone was focused on Sara Ali Khan.
"I don't know what happened. He could see that he was not getting the kind of love because everything was centred around Sara at that time. He was just kind of lost. When the film was released and it did really well, I sent him a message but he never responded. He worked hard and never complained during the film's shooting, but somehow, we lost connection after the film's release."
The queen of controversies, Kangana Ranaut came to the forefront with Sushant Singh's case. She called out Bollywood and blamed the industry for causing his death.
Her social media post read, "If you look at his last few posts, he is clearly saying, begging people to see his films. That he didn't have industry links and that he would be thrown out of this industry. Even in his interviews, he would say 'why doesn't this industry make me its own? I feel like a leftover'. So, doesn't this incident have any reason?"
While Sushant Singh Rajput's life was cut short, he has gifted numerous beautiful movies and characters, which have carved a place in the hearts of audiences. While many Bollywood directors failed to see his charm, others were able to bring out fabulous projects by making him shine in their films. Sushant Singh Rajput will forever remain Bollywood's most promising northern star, who left us all behind too early.
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