Sushant Singh Rajput's death reveals the dark side of Bollywood

Kangana Ranaut, Saif Ali Khan among others talk about 'nepotism' and 'hypocrisy' in the Indian film industry

Sushant Singh Rajput's sudden demise has left Bollywood and his fans in dire shock. The actor was found dead at his home on June 14, 2020.

Although tributes have been pouring in for the late actor, many have raised eyebrows at his death being ruled a suicide, along with claims about his mental health. One such celebrity is India's National Award-winning actor Kangana Ranaut, who has called out Bollywood bigwigs for not appreciating Rajput’s body of work.

Ranaut has long criticised the industry for being 'hypocrotica' and even raised hackles in 2017 when she labeled Karan Johar as the flag-bearer of nepotism in Bollywood, according to Gulf News.

In a recent video shared by her team on Twitter, Ranaut says, “Although he has acted in some amazing films like Kai Po Che! and Chhichore, why wasn’t he given any awards? If a wasteful film like Gully Boy could win so many awards, why couldn’t Sushant be given any for the wonderful films he worked in?”

She adds, “He was treated like a leftover. Read all of his interviews where he is begging the audience to see his film because he fears being outed by his own industry.”

Taking into account Rajput’s achievements, including his Stanford scholarship, Ranaut goes on to question how a mentally charged individual like him could have been so weak that he took his own life?

https://twitter.com/KanganaTeam/status/1272468124118298625

She then slams the culture of blind items, revealing that she also got calls from people who told her not to take her own life as if she was suicidal. "Why are they putting that thought into my head? Where is all that coming from?" questions the starlet.

The actor believes that Rajput was treated poorly and banned in Bollywood because he was an outsider and didn’t have any godfather. Corroborating with Ranaut's belief, a screenshot of Rajput's response to his fans in which he points out the same has gone viral since his death.

“Sushant started to believe in all those voices that questioned his self-worth as an actor,” said Ranaut. She also accused journalists for tainting the actor’s image with news articles about his alleged addiction. “Sanjay Dutt’s addiction is considered cute, but you write baseless articles that are meant to hurt Sushant about his so-called addictions?”

Actor Saif Ali Khan has also expressed anger towards the film industry’s sudden outpouring of love for the late actor. He relayed how a day of silence would have been more appropriate than the ‘hypocrisy’ of pretending to care.



In an interview with The Times of India, Khan said, “It seems to me that people are somewhere gaining some mileage from this poor fellow’s tragedy, you know. Many are talking rubbish in this nonstop kind of barrage on social media and it’s just embarrassing, really."

The Tanhaji star added, “Out of respect for Sushant’s tragedy, maybe a day of silence or introspection would be a little more becoming than this outpouring of love from people who obviously didn’t care about him. And people who famously don’t care about anybody else."

Khan went on to explain how the pretense of caring for Rajput was an ‘insult’ to the latter. “I mean, we don’t care about anybody. You know, it’s a very cutthroat line of work. But to pretend that you do care is like the ultimate hypocrisy and I think that’s an insult to the dead."

Director Shekhar Kapur, who was due to work with Rajput on his film Paani, also pointed out how some people had let Rajput down. 

I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you would weep on my shoulder. I wish Iwas around the last 6 months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours. #SushantSinghRajput

— Shekhar Kapur (@shekharkapur) June 15, 2020

He tweeted, "I knew the pain you were going through. I knew the story of the people that let you down so bad that you would weep on my shoulders. I wish I was around the last six months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours."

Director Anubhav Sinha also tweeted addressing the ‘Bollywood privilege club,' asking them to "sit down and think hard tonight.” He added, “Now don't ask me to elaborate any further.”

The Bollywood Privilege Club must sit down and think hard tonight.

PS- Now don't ask me to elaborate any further.

— Anubhav Sinha (@anubhavsinha) June 14, 2020

Film-maker Hansal Mehta also tweeted, "There are many young 'outsiders' in this industry. Remember this – there are establishments that will make you feel like the next big thing when they need you. They will drop you and mock you as soon as you falter. Do not fall for the trap. The ones that celebrate you will celebrate your downfall some time later. Success and failure are transient. You are not."

Ranvir Shorey had more to say about "inherited privilege" and how it works to create power centres which he calls "gatekeepers of Bollywood."

It wouldn’t be fair to blame someone for a step that he took himself. He was playing a high stakes game, where it’s win or lose it all. But something has to be said about the self appointed ‘gatekeepers of Bollywood’.

— Ranvir Shorey (@RanvirShorey) June 15, 2020

In his tweet, he said, "It wouldn’t be fair to blame someone for a step that he took himself. He was playing a high stakes game, where it’s win or lose it all. But something has to be said about the self-appointed ‘gatekeepers of Bollywood’."

Producer Nikhil Dwivedi, on the other hand, also shared a strongly-worded tweet on Sunday denouncing claims of the "high and mighty who should have kept in touch with Sushant."

His tweet addressed Karan Johar, according to NDTV, since the producer had posted a lengthy note on Instagram, blaming himself for not checking in with Rajput the past year.

At times our movie industry's hypocrisy gets to me. High &mighty announcing they shud ve kept in touch wth Sushant..
Cmon u didn't! &thts coz his career dipped. So STFU! R u in touch with Imran Khan, Abhay Deol &others? No!
But u were, whn they were doing well#SushantSinghRajput

— Nikhil Dwivedi (@Nikhil_Dwivedi) June 14, 2020

"At times our industry's hypocrisy gets to me. High and mighty announcing they should have kept in touch with Sushant… come on, you didn't! And that's because his career dipped. Are you in touch with Imran Khan, Abhay Deol and others? No! But you were when they were doing well!" remarked Dwivedi.

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