EXCLUSIVE

What drove Sushant Singh Rajput over the edge?

Sumita Chakraborty finds out more on Sushant Singh Rajput’s shocking ‘suicide’.

…He could have easily been the next superstar of Bollywood. A bit of a paradox because the Hindi Film Industry is never very kind to people outside its realm. But he managed to bust all preconceived notions and made a headway to the top. His last film Chichhore did tremendous business. Ironically in this film, Sushant talks about the perils of suicide. So his film career was coursing alright. Of course, there were obstacles… too many of them. But this young Turk had the attitude and the talent to face anything and everything, yet one sombre morning, he was found hanging dead in his bedroom.

I knew the pain you “ were going through. - Shekhar Kapoor ” …That’s right we are talking about the curious case of Sushant Singh Rajput who looked as if he had the world at his feet. So why did he have to end his life or is there much more to this case than that meets the eye? What was eerily strange was that just a week before on June 8, 2020, Su- shant’s ex-manager Disha Salian jumped from the 14th floor of her building and ended her life. She was just 26 and he was just 34. Let’s go back to that unfortunate day on June 14, 2020 when it all started. At about 2 pm, the nation was shocked to learn that Sushant Singh Rajput was dead. Tv channels screamed ‘breaking news’ as the ticker pulsated every minute with Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide news. Was this some kind of disgusting joke or a false rumour? After all, day in and day out one hears of fake death news about celebrities. But no, to everyone’s horror, the police confirmed that it was truly Sushant Singh Rajput who was found dead in his Bandra, Mumbai apartment. According to reports, Sushant supposedly had got up early in the morning, had some juice, played a video game and then went back to his bedroom and locked the door. At that point supposedly, a friend and two house helps were at his place. At about 11.30, when the house help knocked at the door and found no answer, he thought Sushant was sleeping or busy. Later the friend and house help tried again. By then, they were worried so called up Su- shant’s sister in Goregaon who rushed to his building. They got a locksmith and managed to open the door only to find

him hanging. The cops arrived and Su- shant was pronounced dead – they said it was most probably suicide but of course, the post-mortem result was awaited. The post-mortem report later confirmed Su- shant had died due to suffocation. The aftermath… Sushant’s fans were en- gulfed in grief. Soon enough, the grief turned into outrage. What made Sushant Singh Rajput take this drastic step? They cried out vociferously. In fact, as Sushant’s body was being taken, fans and media peo- ple trooped in despite the lockdown due to coronavirus. In Patna, at Sushant’s home, the media rushed around interviewing Sushant’s relatives. Out of which one of his uncles said on TV that he refused to believe that Sushant had committed suicide, he insisted it was “murder”. But there were too many theories floating around about Sushant’s suicide. First to the nation’s horror, somebody had clicked Sushant’s pictures after he was brought down from the fan where he hung. The net was ablaze with gruesome pictures of Sushant’s dead body barely few hours after his death. What was worse was many Youtubers started posting those pictures and it had become viral. Then it became eerie when some youtubers and vloggers claimed that Sushant’s fingers were mov- ing after he was brought down and pro- nounced dead. Some people started crying foul play. Mumbai police started investi- gating the case. But of course, they do that for a person’s untimely death more so a ce- lebrity. Supposedly, they interviewed more than 34 people who were either close to him or had worked or interacted with him. Rhea Chakraborty, Sushant’s girlfriend cum

He was a “ disturbed soul. – Mukesh Bhatt ”

manager was interviewed by the police for nine hours supposedly. Amongst the people interviewed were Sushant’s friends Mahesh Hegde and Sandip Singh, Mukesh Chhabra and of course, Sanjay Leela Bhansali who made the startling claim that he had been considering Sushant not just for one film (Galiyon Ke Ram Leela) but also another three films but couldn’t sign him on because of unavailability of dates. Sushant was bound in a contract with Yashraj Studios for three films and the contract was as watertight as Fort Knox. People insisted that Sushant was extremely frustrated by this contract. Shekhar Kapoor who had signed Sushant for his film Paani for Yashraj which later got shelved because of Shekhar’s differences with the studio insisted he knew about Sushant’s problem and 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 shoulder. I wish I was around the last 6 months. I wish you had reached out to me. What happened to you was their Karma. Not yours.” Insiders added to this by claiming that Karan Johar and his clique had cold-shouldered Sushant and so when Karan Johar tweeted a long post on how he should have been there for Sushant, he was trolled mercilessly and called a “hypocrite” and other unsavoury names. Then again the net was filled with viral rumours that perhaps Sushant had a financial setback because of his inability to sign new films. He was staying on rent of 4.5 lakh in a posh building in Bandra and had always put his best foot forward during any global economic or social crisis. His family, however rubbished this saying he had enough money to be comfortable. But perhaps it was not just professional and financial woes that Sushant was suffering from. Supposedly, he was going through intense mental trauma and had been consulting a psychiatrist for the last six months.

I have never met “

Disha Salian in my life. - Sooraj Pancholi ” Producer Mukesh Bhatt insisted that he knew things would go this way for Sushant was a “disturbed soul” and was “going the Parveen Babi way. Writer Sucharita Sengupta, who worked with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, had said in an interview that “Mahesh had advised Rhea Chakraborty to leave Sushant Singh’s company. As he felt this (Sushant) is another Parveen Babi’.” Adding, “Sushant came to Bhatt Saheb looking for a role in Sadak 2. He could speak on cinema as well as quantum physics. Bhatt Saab recognized the sadness behind Sushant’s constant diligence. This was exactly what he saw in Parveen Babi. He knew that there was no cure except medicine.” Supposedly, Rhea was trapped due to Sushant’s rapid depression, she tried her best so that Sushant would take his medicines, but he refused. What was strange was that there were rumours floating around long before Sushant died allegedly linking Rhea Chakraborty with Mahesh Bhatt. Their (Rhea and Mahesh Bhatt’s) behaviour at the press conference of their film also fuelled these rumours further causing people to say that Rhea had broken up with Sushant. But insiders pooh-poohed that Rhea had not broken up with Sushant. They said that Rhea was still living-in with Sushant the entire lockdown period. The reason Rhea went home was because Sushant’s sister was coming to his place. Then there was another set of stories floating around that the psychiatrist Sushant was seeing claimed he missed his ex-girlfriend Ankita Lokhande but that story was proved false as the good doctor insisted later that he hadn’t been interviewed by the police as yet. Another theory floated around was fuelled by a tweet by some page of @justiceforsushantsinghrajput that insinuated that ex-manager Disha Salian was pregnant with Sooraj Pancholi’s baby and Sushant was saving her from him. Something Sooraj Pancholi instantly rubbished and blasted into smithereens with an official statement, “I have never met Disha Salian in my life. I heard of her only after Sushant’s death.” Disha’s family too in an official interview condemned this kind of ‘fake’ news. …Too many rumours floated volatilely like fire on the net. So much so politicians from Bihar and Kolkata including Roopa Ganguly demanded a CBI probe into Sushant’s death. Why would such a charismatic intelligent guy who had won the Physics Olympiad as a student do this, his fans aggressively asked? He was this intelligent actor who wanted to touch the stars and the moon literally – supposedly, he had bought an area on the moon for fifty lakhs which he would gaze at on his telescope. So why would such a promising actor despite the many frustrations coming his way, end his life? It wasn’t as if he had no films in hand. The 34-yearold actor had signed some good films including a romcom with girlfriend Rhea for Rumi Jaffrey. So what went wrong? Why did such a brilliant actor end his life or is there more to it… We don’t know but perhaps the investigative officers will come out with the reason behind Sushant Singh Rajput’s ‘suicide’ soon. But for now, Bollywood has lost one of its most promising actors. Will they ever get over the loss? Rumoured ex gf’s Sara Ali Khan, Kriti Sanon and Ankita Lokhande are still undoubtedly distraught. So are girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and Sushant’s best friends. …And of course, the entire nation. May the supremely talented Sushant Singh Rajput rest in peace.