Yahoo Finance Bollywood's dirty games in the wake of Sushant's suicide
It has been hardly two days since the tragic death of Sushant Singh Rajput, but the Bollywood cabal, which is being called out as inadvertently responsible for driving the young actor to the precipice, has swung into action again. The flak and fulminations that have been hurled at them in the past few days — even from within the industry — don’t seem to have deterred them one bit.
To deflect negative coverage, especially on social media platforms in the aftermath of Sushant’s demise, this insidious cabal devised an ingenious way. It's a two-pronged strategy — first, try to shift the narrative and then unleash the sewerage upon another colleague who has long been a thorn in the flesh.
To divert attention from all the ’nepotism’, ’smear campaign’ talk, the lobby apparently approached an out-of-work director, with the promise of favours or a sinecure, and asked him to launch a tirade against another superstar — the superstar who had actually given this director a break to start with.
Abhinav Kashyap made his debut as a director in Salman Khan's blockbuster 'Dabangg'. But he opted out of the sequel as he felt the Khan brothers interfered too much. His next film, Ranbir Kapoor's 'Besharam' became a commercial and critical disaster in 2013 though it fetched a thunderous opening on day one.
Owing to the massive debacle of this movie, he hasn't received any offers to direct any movie. Also, there were credible reports that even his first movie was taken over the Khan brothers and they called the shots. The debacle of his second movie and doubts over his directorial competence were so sweeping that even his own brother, Anurag Kashyap, who gives breaks to many newcomers never chose to work with his own brother.
Now, Abhinav, who is reportedly facing mental health issues of his own, has been triggered by the 'cabal' to post a venomous letter accusing Salman, his brothers, and even his father, of threatening/bullying producers to deprive him of his directorial projects.
The industry isn't paying much heed to his letter and so far none of the prominent names have come out in his support. At the most, it would generate some rumbles on social media before subsiding into the thin air.
While the repercussions of this little dirty trick might not be humungous, it does make one question the film industry’s integrity and ability to mend itself, more so at such a delicate time.
Sushant didn't know how to suck up to any lobby or plant stories against his rivals or pay the paparazzi to click his pictures and circulate them to media publications daily. He had better things to do that indulge in such seedy shenanigans. But for the 'cabal', and indeed for the most of the industry people, this is par for the course. Even if it pushes someone to the edge, and beyond. Their excuse is that they don't wish to kill someone.
Empathy, self reflection and penance are alien terms for Bollywood, even though these are the virtues which they celebrate in their movies. The 'cabal', which pushed Sushant to the edge, will continue to rule the roost.
The star isn’t spotless either and has indeed made and marred careers in the past.
Brazen hypocrisy, thy name is Bollywood!
