Entertainment / Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture Of The Bollywood Mafia?

Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture Of The Bollywood Mafia?

Entertainment Dec 28, 2020

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

We continue our holiday series: Our #ICYMI Stories Of 2020. Here, we took a closer look at how Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragedy brought Bollywood’s powerful nepotism issue to light.

Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide has unearthed tales of bullying, blacklisting and the power of the ‘Bollywood Mafia’. We take a closer look at what happened and how this tragedy has put the notorious nepotistic Indian film industry under the harsh spotlight.

It is still difficult to fathom that it’s been over a week since Sushant Singh Rajput’s tragic passing.

As the story about his death unfolds, it’s become evident that there was more at play here, namely the ‘Bollywood Mafia’, which may have contributed to Rajput’s death.

Like many, you may be thinking, “not another conspiracy, what does Bollywood’s nepotistic culture have to do with Rajput’s suicide?”

Apparently, a lot. Just stick with me.

Who Was Sushant Singh Rajput?

Will Sushant Singh Rajput's Tragic Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture The 'Bollywood Mafia' Upholds? — **Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Tragic Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture The ‘Bollywood Mafia’ Upholds?: After his tragic passing, Rajput was laid to rest on June 15, 2020.** Photo Credit: www.theaugust.com

The 34-year-old actor was best known for his roles in PK (2014), M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Kedarnath (2018), and Chhichhore (2019). According to his ex-business manager, Shruti Modi, Rajput was working on establishing two new businesses, Nation India For World, an altruistic endeavour, and Vivid Rage Realistic, which would pump out “Virtual Reality content,” reports Indian Express.

Despite these promising ventures on the horizon, news broke on June 14, 2020, that Rajput had committed suicide. According to those closest to Rajput, the actor had been battling depression for some time and was seeing a psychiatrist for help. At the time of his passing, Rajput had not been taking medication as he had been feeling better.

In spite of his progress a statement on Change.org petition ( which calls for a boycott of Salman Khan, Karan Johar and his YRF Film production company), claims that things took a turn for the worse earlier this year when Rajput learned he was being shunned by the ‘Bollywood Mafia’, which would ultimately impact his career. The petition which has now collected nearly 4 million signatures in over a week.

That said, when the story broke that Rajput had passed away, Bollywood fans and stars alike seemed to be genuinely rocked by the news. Many people took to social media upon the news breaking to post their condolences and memories about the late actor, including Alia Bhatt and Karan Johar.

Fans promptly took to social media to drag both Bhatt and Johar for their “fake” tears and condolences as neither had accepted Rajput as an ‘insider’ in Bollywood. In Bhatt’s case, it was noted that she’d previously acted like she did not know who Rajput was on Johar’s celeb chat show Koffee With Karan.

Meanwhile, Johar reprimanded himself on Instagram for not keeping in touch with Rajput.

However, it wasn’t long before fans called Johar out about his post.

**Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Tragic Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture The ‘Bollywood Mafia’ Upholds?: Twitter users brought to light some interesting accusations about both Johar and Bhatt.** Photo Credit: www.zeenews.india.com

But, fans were not the only ones to speak out. Stars like Kangana Ranaut took to Instagram to air her sadness over Rajput’s passing (click here for the video) and to share her thoughts on how the media played a role in his death, calling their efforts an “emotional, psychological, and mental lynching”. You can see that instagram video below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBnUBBDhS7W/

That said, Ranaut is no stranger to Bollywood’s wrath, as its nepotistic culture has impacted both her professional and personal life. In one instance, following a disagreement with “Aditya Chopra … the filmmaker “threatened” her and said he would never work with her,” highlights Indian Express.

Filmmaker, Anubhav Sinha also shared a simple, but powerful message on Twitter following Rajput’s death.

Meanwhile, actor Prakash Raj reposted a video where Rajput highlights the nepotism that runs rampant in Bollywood, indicating that his exposure to their tactics was not limited to 2020. In his Tweet, Raj also questions, in the wake of Rajput’s death, when will enough be enough and change will take place in Bollywood?

That said, this wasn’t the only time that Rajput had called out Bollywood. Change.org notes that Rajput had been “begging his fans on Instagram to watch his movie “Sonchariya” saying “I have no Godfather in Bollywood and I will be out of job if you don’t watch my movie.”

Let’s Talk About Nepotism in Bollywood:

In case there’s any confusion on what nepotism is, according to Lexico, it is “the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.”

Supposedly, the ‘Bollywood Mafia’ mainly consists of powerful film families, including Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Salman Khan.

According to The Print, today’s Bollywood’s Mafia consists of “a handful of families that emerged out of three essential sets of people — those who came into the industry from Punjab in the 1940s and 1950s; the actors, directors, and writers who broke in during the 1970s and 1980s; and their progeny thereafter. [Given the history,] these archaic practices of bhai-chara and nepotism and affiliated biases” have been deeply entrenched in Bollywood.

In fact, notes The Print, “there continues to be discrimination between the two types of film aspirants — young actors and directors from the Bandra-Juhu-filmi-kid circuit and those who come to Mumbai from other cities. The difference is that the former will be given numerous chances, while the outsiders have to succeed with their early projects, otherwise, even the few doors open to them start slamming hard on their faces.”

Meanwhile, in a strange series of Tweets captured on Times Of India, noted director Ram Gopal Varma ranted that Rajput was not a victim of Bollywood. He went on to say Rajput’s death is being used against Johar as people are jealous of him and want to bring him down. Varma contradicts himself by saying everyone starts as an outsider in Bollywood, but then argues there is no distinction between an outsider and an insider as the power lies with the audience to determine who they like best. The most confusing part of all of this, after saying that the audience is the true influencer, is when Varma says this:

The only thing clear about Varma’s Tweets is that nepotism is alive and well in Bollywood.

In fact, actress Sonam Kapoor Ahuja recently acknowledged her Bollywood privilege in a, what I assume was a well-intended, Tweet, once more confirming what many already know: nepotism is abundant in Bollywood.

What’s Next?

At this time, Times Now News reports that “Advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha has filed a complaint under Sections 306, 109, 504 & 506 of [The Indian Penal Code] in connection with the [Rajput’s] death. [The] case has been filed against Bollywood biggies Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and Ekta Kapoor.”

Ojha’s case is being made on the basis of Rajput being ousted “…from around seven films and some of his films were not released.” Times Now News alleges that this happened in a matter of six months, which contributed to Rajput’s decision to commit suicide.

The plot continued to thicken though when “a criminal complaint was filed” against Rajput’s reported girlfriend and actor, Rhea Chakraborty, for supposedly aiding in his suicide, notes Hindustani Times.

Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Tragic Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture The ‘Bollywood Mafia’ Upholds?: Chakraborty (on the right) has been questioned by the police multiple times since Rajput’s death. Photo Credit: www.republicworld.com

Meanwhile, the police have requested that Yash Raj Films provide documentation of their employment agreement with Rajput to investigate if “professional rivalry was the cause behind Rajput’s suicide,” notes Indian Express.

Lastly, as per the statement on the Change.org petition it asks that “popular streaming companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hot star to immediately stop promoting movies generated by the above-mentioned media houses [Karan Johar, YRF Films, Salman Khan etc].” The statement goes on to say, “these are not movies, these are platforms to launch children of famous movie stars. These are not movies, there is evidence that nepotism is running rampant in the industry.”

With the world still largely being at a standstill due to COVID-19, it seems like people are taking the time to pay more attention, and they’re justifiably angry. The fact remains that a life was lost, far too soon. But, let us all hope that Rajput did not die in vain. Instead, let us allow his death will be the catalyst of change and hard work that is much needed to bring down the ‘Bollywood Mafia’.

Main Imagine Photo Credit: www.huffingtonpost.in

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Author

Devika (@goberdhan.devika) is an MA graduate who specialized in Political Science at York University. Her passion and research throughout her graduate studies pushed her to learn about and unpack hot button issues. Thus, since starting at ANOKHI in 2016, she has written extensively about many challe...

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Will Sushant Singh Rajput’s Death Bring Down The Nepotistic Culture Of The Bollywood Mafia?

by Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

Devika Goberdhan | Features Editor - Fashion

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