Investigation is underway with regard to Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide. (Photo: Sushant Singh Rajput/Facebook)
Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise has sent shock waves across the Indian film and television industry. The actor was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. As per Mumbai Police, Sushant died by suicide. While investigation is underway to understand the reason behind Sushant’s depression, close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty on Thursday recorded her statement in connection with his suicide at the Bandra police station. Bollywood casting director Mukesh Chhabra had also recorded his statement on Wednesday, along with 10 others, including Sushant’s family members.
Siddharth Pithani, the late actor’s creative manager told Mumbai Police that Sushant had stopped taking medicines to treat depression in the weeks leading to his death as he was “feeling better”. “Pithani told us that he was not aware of the reason why Rajput was depressed. As he had been staying at Rajput’s home, he had, however, overheard the actor’s staff saying that he had stopped taking the medicines in the past few weeks as he was feeling better,” a senior Mumbai Police official said. Earlier, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said the Mumbai Police will also probe the angle of “professional rivalry” which was alleged to be the cause of the suicide.
Earlier in the day, Sushant’s sister Shweta Singh Kriti in a Facebook post shared that she has reached his hometown Patna. “Reached my Patna’s home safely yesterday. Thanks to everyone who was praying and who helped in the process. It was hassle free🙏 Today we will be doing Asthi Visarjan (Ashes Immersion) for Bhai. I again want to ask all to pray for him and send him off with all the fond memories and unconditional love in your hearts. Let’s celebrate his life and give him a very loving and happy farewell. #Sushantsinghrajput” Shweta wrote on Facebook. The family, including Sushant’s father and sisters, immersed the actor’s ashes in the Ganga later on Thursday. His father K K Singh had told the police that he and other family members had no idea about Sushant’s depression.
Sushant Singh Rajput was a background dancer during Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's performance at the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne in 2006. Sushant was a part of Shiamak Davar’s dance group.
Check out the video posted by a fan on YouTube
Instagram on Friday memorialise late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's account by adding a "Remembering" in his profile, leaving thousands of fans emotional.
In a statement on Friday, Kangana Ranaut revealed that she was once threatened and told that eventually she would commit suicide.
Read Kangana's full statement here:
"Once Javed Akhtar had called me to his house and told me that Rakesh Roshan and his family are very big people. If you don’t apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction…you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don’t apologise to Hrithik Roshan, I would have to commit suicide? He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house.
"Were there people calling Sushant? Were there people putting such thoughts into his mind? I have no idea, but obviously, he was in a similar situation. In his interviews, he had said that nepotism cannot co-exist with talent because they don’t allow the right talent to come up. I can relate to it, and hence I am raising questions. I want to know who played the catalyst in this situation?
"I know Sushant had a big fallout with Aditya Chopra also. When I refused Sultan, he had threatened he would never work with me. Ever since our industry ganged up on me. I remember so many times feeling really lonely and feeling what will happen to me… Why do these privileged people have the power to say that they will never work with someone? It’s your choice if you want or not to work with someone, but why announce it to the world, gang up and make this happen! These privileged lots need to be questioned. They have blood on their hands. They need to answer, and I am ready to go to any extent to expose these people because enough is enough!
"They are very insecure about things. Despite what they did to me, there was a guy who wanted to get married to me. But he distanced himself, they made sure he ran away. With no surety about my career, my love-life completely has gone awry, with six court-cases against me, they’re still trying to put me in jail." She further adds, I’m a different person; I’m very expressive. I went out there, and I just vented it out. Sushant was not a person like that at all. He just bottled it up. Media too, has played a considerable part in this—the kind of monster image that was given to him. Everybody who knew him closely agrees that he was a soft and emotional person. I think that after a point it really got to him. I can understand it because even I have been portrayed as a witch and as a stalker.
"I remember initially when people used to come to my home, I felt so embarrassed to even offer them water. Forget having a relationship or going on a date post the disaster of a relationship I had. I can only imagine that even during Manikarnika what they did to me. But perhaps he was just not able to vent. In fact, all these constant jibes on these petty shows that he should be killed and which rated him as the least efficient… his films have done more business than your Gully Boy. People like Salman Khan said who Sushant Singh Rajput? It was after M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, everybody knew who Sushant was. We need to stop these,” she ends.
A 16-year-old boy died by suicide in Adarsh Nagar locality in Nayagaon on Wednesday. The boy was said to be upset with the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajpoot. Police initiated an inquest proceeding under the Section 174 of Criminal Proceeding Code (CrPC). Nayagaon Station House Office (SHO) Inspector Ashok Kumar told The Indian Express that the boy was a student of class 10 in a private school and died by suicide at his home. Read more here
Actor Harshvardhan Kapoor, in his Instagram stories, shared his thoughts in the debate around nepotism and lobbying in Bollywood, that began following the demise of Sushant Singh Rajput. Here's what he wrote:
(Photos: Screengrab/Harshvardhan Kapoor/Instagram)
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri revealed that Sushant was supposed to make a Bollywood debut with his directorial Hate Story (2012), but Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms did not release him. A Twitter user aked him, "Wo Jab zinda tha tab kuch movies offer kar sakte the aap (You could've offered Sushant some movies while he was still alive). To this, Agnihotri resplied over a tweet, "I had signed him for ‘Hate Story’ - his first movie contract. But Balaji didn’t release him."
Singer Sonu Nigam on Thursday requested Indian music companies to be compassionate towards struggling artistes, while also making some revelations about the way our music industry works. Sonu’s vlog comes in the wake of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise on June 14.
“Today, Sushant Singh Rajput, an actor has died. Tomorrow you can hear the same for any singer, music composer or lyricist because there’s a bigger mafia that exists in the music scene in India. I was lucky to debut at a young age and hence was able to flee from this whole mess quite early. But it’s a difficult scenario for the new kids,” Sonu said. Read more here
Titled Suicide Or Murder? – A star was lost, the film will be bankrolled by Vijay Shekhar Gupta and helmed by Shamik Maulik. Talking about the movie, Gupta shared with indianexpress.com, "The film is not Sushant’s biopic. It is inspired by his life and work. We are writing the script. It will be based on thorough research of the star’s life, and we will be talking to a lot of other actors who are considered ‘outsiders’ in the industry. Star kids will not be a part of this film. We will be working with a rising star who is not a star kid. We should be able to start shooting in a few months." Read more here
The police on Thursday wrote to leading production house, Yash Raj Films (YRF), asking for a copy of a contract they had signed with Sushant. A senior Mumbai Police officer said that investigators sought to learn the nature of the contract with YRF and how many films the actor was to make with them. This comes days after Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh announced that the police would investigate reports that professional rivalry might have pushed Sushant to take his own life. Read more here
Close friend and actor Mahesh Shetty posted a moving note for Sushant Singh Rajput on Instagram.
Here's Mahesh Shetty's full note:
"It’s a strange feeling... I have so much to say yet I’m speechless. Sometimes in life, you meet someone and feel an instant connection as if you’ve known him all your life and you realise that you don’t have to be born from the same womb to be brothers. This is how we met... We met as brothers. We hit it off over our love for food and long walks in Film City and didn’t realise when and how we became such an integral part of each other’s lives. Both introverts, both amazingly old fashioned when it came to our friendship, both living in a little private world of our own. So many memories, our journeys, our endless chats (he could talk about anything under the sun with equal conviction), food, films, books, nature, science, relations and lots of bakwaas... He was like a kid in a candy shop and that boundless energy laced with all the limitless dreams was always infectious. He made me feel loved. We shared a unique bond and I was always glad that our relationship never needed any public display of affection or a public validation. It was sacred for both of us. How I wish I had captured it all in a lot more pictures so at least I have had something to look back at now. But still, I’m thankful, at least I have the last 13 years’ journey filled with memories to cherish and hold on to for the rest of my life. His success, his achievements, his work... he was always a perfectionist and no matter what I say, I will never be able to explain the genius in him. I could never express how happy I felt every time I watched his film on the big screen and all the days and nights of hard work he put behind those characters. He was an inspiration to almost everyone around me and that made me even more proud. He was always so full of life with dreams in his eyes. All those who loved him always automatically became a part of my family too and will always remain that way."