The beating that the image of Bollywood has taken in the last three days, after Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide, is almost unprecedented, at least in recent years. Accusations are flying and floating all around. And since people have a lot of free time on their hands due to the COVID-19 lockdown and also thanks to social media platforms, horrific stories about the Hindi film industry are gaining more ground by the minute.
People in the film industry are aware that there’s a tiny section of Bollywood which is spreading the mischievous stories which threaten to erode the very fabric of Bollywood. But the public is innocent. They do not understand that the bad press which Bollywood is getting is the handiwork of only some disgruntled people. These few people, who can be counted on one’s finger-tips, would have the world believe that Bollywood is the worst place to be in, that people in this industry commit suicide with as much regularity as brushing their teeth, that there are off-screen villains in the industry just as Amrish Puri and Pran were on screen, that these villains prey upon newcomers who do not come from film families, that these so-called villains can decide the fate of just about any star or actor. The accusing fingers are pointing towards Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra. The people who are spreading such horrific stories about Adi and Karan may not be gutsy enough to take names but they leave nothing to the imagination of the public because the hints are so loud and clear that it would be the easiest quiz for even someone who is not a Bollywood buff to guess that the names being hinted at by the so-called custodians of SSR after his unfortunate suicide are Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra.
What have they got against Chopra and Johar? Plenty! First and foremost, the fact that they are successful producer-directors does not sit well with the ones who are spewing venom against them. Secondly, Karan Johar’s sense of humour which may often border on the wicked side. But however wicked, it is only humour. Shekhar Kapur has ranted against Aditya Chopra and has told the world through his tweet that SSR’s suicide was not his karma, it was their (Adi) karma but does the world know what is Kapur’s grudge against Chopra? Here are the facts: Adi was to produce Shekhar Kapur’s Paani with Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead role. But the project was called off before it could roll because Kapur is said to have asked for a budget which was way above what Adi felt was recoverable. It is a producer’s prerogative to back a project if he is convinced of its commercial viability or back out of it if he fears that he may not be able to recover the investment in it. Adi did what he was entitled to do. To his credit, he never told the world why he was shelving the project before starting it. For Shekhar to spit fire at the unsuspecting Adi and that too by blaming him of driving SSR to suicide is the worst revenge anyone can take. And revenge for what? Shekhar Kapur may probably like to answer why he could not make Paani for any other producer after Adi showed him the door. Or would he have the world believe that Adi did not permit any other producer to make it? Please be informed that Shekhar had, years back, launched the trailer of Paani at the Cannes film festival. Over the years, one has read news items about Kapur making the film with different producers. Reportedly, Shekhar had even taken money from investors including a top brand. Much like Paani was the case of Mr. India 2. Kapur had twice tried to make it, once with Boney Kapoor and Manmohan Shetty in 2008, and then in 2012 when Boney Kapoor was heading Sahara. Said a source very close to the project-in-the-planning, “The Mr. India sequel could not materialise at both the times because of Shekhar’s greed. He had asked for an obnoxiously unrealistic price as creative producer/director and there were a host of creative differences with Boney.” Point to note is that he left at least five Bollywood films (Joshilaay, Champion, Time Machine, Barsaat, Dushmani) midway or incomplete.
Kangana Ranaut has been ranting about nepotism at every given opportunity but this time, there wasn’t even an opportunity. Nobody, repeat, nobody capitalises on a colleague’s suicide to drive home any point, but Kangana spoke about SSR’s career being badly destroyed due to nepotism as if SSR had written her a secret suicide note why he was ending his life. Even worse was Kangana’s rant about her being a victim of nepotism, in the very video she released post the suicide. Hello! how does a star’s suicide become an occasion to play the victim card? How was she connected with SSR except, as she and she alone says in the video, that they were both victims of the nepotism brigade? Her video starts with how SSR’s suicide was a murder, and then very quickly, its focus shifts to Kangana herself. She takes centrestage. Kangana conveniently forgets that despite the fact that she does not hail from a film family, she was accepted with open arms by the very industry which she is badmouthing today. If, as she claims, the N word in Bollywood does not allow non-star kids to gain a foothold in the film industry, how did she manage to make it? The lady needs to understand that it was her talent which stood her in good stead, just like SSR’s talent was the reason behind his success. To say that SSR was jobless at the time he took his life would be insulting his memory. Sushant was not jobless due to lack of acting offers! The 34-year-old young man was extremely selective (a very good and rare quality for an actor his age) and it just may have been that he was not in a hurry to sign too many films, that he was waiting for better scripts to come his way. Few may be aware that Sushant had already been signed to act in a film which was to be produced by Vashu Bhagnani and written and directed by Rumi Jafri, another (a Malayalam film remake) to have been directed by Resul Pookutty, and a third film to have been directed by Sanjay Puran Singh. So why are stories that he was jobless being circulated? The ulterior motives are clear. And is Kangana a psychiatrist to understand the psyche of SSR, that too, after he has gone? Nitesh Tiwari, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Rajkumar Hirani, Dinesh Vijan, Dibakar Banerjee, Neeraj Pandey, Mukesh Chhabra were some of the people Sushant was close to and had worked with in close proximity. Isn’t it weird that none of these persons has any information about SSR’s suicide but Kangana wants the world to believe that she has hit the nail on the head. She should be helping the police, what is she doing in the film industry which, in any case and of her own admission, shuns outsiders like herself.
Why would the world like to believe all the terrible stories circulating since the last three days? Because that’s public psychology! Everyone wants to believe the bad stories about celebrities, whether they are from the world of entertainment or politics or fashion. A psychologist may be able to explain this better but believing stories which show celebs in bad light gives some sort of solace to the common man if only because he feels reassured that even the high and mighty can commit crimes/sins/errors of omission and what have you. For the few days that such stories are in circulation and appear to be credible, it gives the public a chance to feel that there’s not much difference between the celebrities and themselves.
So what should Bollywood be doing even as television news channels are going hammer and tongs against the film industry in general by buying into the vicious stories spread by the tiny minority? Should it ignore the stories circulating in social media and on TV channels? Should it pretend that it doesn’t concern them and so it should remain silent? Or should it act?
By maintaining silence, Bollywood is doing itself more harm than good. Bollywood people may be thinking that the circus will die in a week’s time. But they must appreciate the fact that we live in the age of social media. A week’s time is good enough for many crores to be ill-informed or half-informed. Both are dangerous. The reputation of Bollywood has been tarnished very badly. Not setting it right can have far-reaching consequences which can only be bad. For one, the signal going out to the world since the last three days is that Bollywood is one of the worst industries to be in, that people commit suicide here day in and day out, that everything is murky here, that there is no good soul in this industry, that everyone is a back-stabber, that films are snatched by stars as if they were vultures, not actors, that producers and directors are murderers rather than filmmakers. Is this the signal Bollywood wants to send out to the lakhs of people who are dreaming to enter the make-believe world of films? Does Bollywood want the public to believe that lives are worthless in this industry and one can be driven to suicide if the high and mighty so desire? Does Bollywood not want new blood to enter the industry? If not, what is it waiting for?
Bollywood needs to wake up from its slumber. The ones who are claiming that Sushant Singh Rajput did not commit suicide, that he was murdered by vested interests are, in fact, murdering Bollywood, they are killing the industry which gave them an identity. They are using that very identity to cut the branch on which they are sitting. Sadly, this time, along with the branch, they are also cutting the tree. The suicide of a promising young star, on the threshold of superstardom is bad enough. Imagine what the murder of an entire industry would be.