On the fateful day of 14th June 2020 we lost yet another beautiful soul Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment. After his demise many questions raised for the reason of his death many said it was a mental health issue and many blamed Bollywood not so subtle nepotism.
One of his co-star Ranvir Shorey who worked with Sushant in Sonchiriya has slammed nepotism culture in Bollywood by sharing a story from an award show. At the age of 34, Sushant has achieved so much despite the struggle of nepotism. So much has been said about how unfairly he was treated by the film industry, as an outsider.
Ranvir took to twitter to share his story, he wrote-“This actually unfolded on a popular Bollywood awards show, A star kid is co-hosting the show. They announce the next category – Best Actor. The nominees are played out, and the star kid is one of the nominees. Surprise-surprise! To present the award, the hosts invite two esteemed film personalities, who happen to be the star kid’s parents. What a sweet coincidence! The presenters open the envelope and announce the winner to be – drumroll please! – the star kid, of course! What a Kodak family moment! The star kid walks from the host’s dias to accept the award and makes a short thank you speech and heads back to hosting the rest of the show like business as usual. This is how mainstream Bollywood is a family. – The End -”
On June 15 , Ranvir tweeted,“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’. Something has to be said about the games they play, and their two facades. Something has to be said about the power they wield with zero accountability. The power they derive from having inherited privilege in the business and the mainstream media sitting in their lap. The power to decide who will be a ‘star’ and who will be left out in the cold. But of course, the coterie that owns the only high stakes table in the casino will never be questioned, because everyone is too busy enjoying the game. Even if they know it’s fixed.”
Ranvir was present at Sushant’s funeral on Monday, which was by other co-stars Shraddha Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Kapoor, and others. Many big Bollywood personalities like Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt have been crucified on social media for condoling his death, after allegedly having mocked Sushant in the past.
Many other Bollywood personalities like Kangana Ranaut shared their views on the Bollywood ancestry nepotism, in which she said the late actor was not given his due as he was not a star kid, and was incessantly told that he was ‘worthless’.
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur had tweeted after his demise: “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…”
We might know the real reason behind Sushant’s demise yet but we knew this fact he was an exceptional actor and more so he was such a genuine and kind-hearted person that it is getting hard for everyone to overcome this loss.
