Sushant Singh Rajput, a rising star from Bollywood died by committing suicide at his apartment on June 14 in Bombay’s posh Carter Road Bandra. The news was so incredibly shocking that many people kept refreshing their screens 100 plus times trying not to believe and passionately hoping it was some kind of cruel and ridiculous joke by some ‘bastard’ friend.
No. It was not a joke and the industry has been shaken to the core with the blame game still continuing after a full week of his death. The post mortem has confirmed the cause of his death to be death by asphyxiation.
Sushant was a lovely man, extremely intelligent and hard working who had made a successful transition from television to movies with hit shows on television to Rs100 crore movies like Chchichorey. By any standards, he had a very bright future ahead of him. But on the night of 13 June, he hung himself and died of asphyxiation or suffocation. He did not leave any suicide note behind which has left people not only in shock but also surmising as to what drove him to take such a tragically foolish step.
Speculations of financial strain due to COVID-19 and of relationship issues have all been ruled out.
Actress Rhea Chakraborty who was living with him but had moved out only days before his death after an argument, been questioned by police along with many others of his staff, management and friends from the industry.
In the absence of a suicide note or a real clue – there has been a fierce attack from the likes of Kangana Ranaut that as an outsider trying to make it big in Bollywood, he was treated badly and humiliated by a small group of powerful people in Bollywood. She has come out and said that Sushant’s death is the evidence of nepotism in Bollywood. She suggests there is a continuous battle between ‘them’ versus ús’ and industry ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. Sushant, cites Kangana, was on record begging fans and viewers to watch his movies ‘otherwise he will be thrown out’.
Allegations have been made on social media about big production houses boycotting small actors. Edited clips have been shared from Johar’s an episode of his chat show Koffee with Karan from 2014, wherein Sushant was being laughed at, though in a jest.
Writer Director Shekhar Kapoor has also come out with the story of Yash Raj Films shelving his movie ‘Pani’, he had started rehearsing with Sushant and they worked for months before Yash Raj Films dropped it.
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Sushant’s co-star from the film MS Dhoni – The Untold Story has appealed to people to move on and not speculate on the cause of him committing suicide. Sharing a picture with Sushant from their film, Bhumika wrote, “Dear Sushant – wherever you are – you are in the hands of God …. it’s Been a week since you have gone … What took you away —- THE SECRET HAS GONE WITH YOU — buried deep in your heart …”.
In a strange final message which can be seen as “self-serving”, Bhoomika has asked people to move on saying:
LETS NOT BLAMe PEOPLE —— LETS RESPECT Each other … LET THE industry find a solution within itself and not do public discussions on public domains —- Prayers for him
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But Kangana is in no doubt. She has labelled Sushant’s death as “planned murder”.
She says Sushant was never given enough credit for his outstanding performances in ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, ‘Kedarnath’ and ‘Chhichhore’.
Kangana says that “ye suicide nahi, planned murder tha!”
“Sushant’s only fault is that he believed them when they called him ‘worthless’. He didn’t remember what his mother told him. It is up to us now to decide who will write the history,” she adds in Hindi.
The video’s caption reads: “#KanganaRanaut exposes the propaganda by industry arnd #SushantSinghRajput’s tragic death &how the narrative is spun to hide how their actions pushed #Sushant to the edge.Why it’s imp to give talent their due &when celebs struggle with personal issues media to practice restraint”
An actor who was a real scholar, reading Quantum Physics while acting and former engineer, would not hang himself for some non-reason or flimsy issue. It is up to the Mumbai police now to investigate and dig up the truth. And truth must prevail in the end.