Is Rhea Chakraborty paying a price for being in love with Sushant?

Rhea Chakraborty, a young actor landing small roles in Bollywood projects, began dating star Sushant Singh Rajput in April 2019. The couple was living together at his Bandra apartment since December. Pic/ Getty Images

On June 14, hours before the news of 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death became public, Rhea Chakraborty posted a video of herself in blue resort wear, standing next to an infinity pool with hills providing a scenic backdrop, captioning it "I really miss shooting! Ok Bye".

Her Instagram account is testimony to the 180 degree shift her life has seen since. Even as the investigation into Rajput's death continued with her making the rounds of Bandra Police Station to offer statements as a witness, the 28-year-old has found herself at the centre of a raging controversy, with Rajput's father Krishna Kumar Singh filing an FIR with Rajiv Nagar police station in Patna on June 28, alleging that Chakraborty had driven Rajput to suicide, siphoned off Rs 15 crore of his funds, and weaned him away from his family. As social media users jumped in, the story went beyond an individual tragedy, pulling in several top names from the industry that Singh and Chakraborty belong to, as voices grew louder against Bollywood's influential families controlling the industry against "outsiders" like Singh.

After the Mumbai and Patna police had a go at each other for non-performance, a single judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy pronounced the SC verdict on August 18, ordering the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe into the allegations. Critics of nepotism hailed it as victory.

Actor Rhea Chakrobarty and her brother, Showik, emerge from the ED office at Fort, where they had been summoned for questioning on August 7. They have been interrogated multiple times by the ED and now, the CBI. Pic/ Pradeep Dhivar

When the television channels revealed WhatsApp conversations with reference to "weed", a "drugs angle" emerged. The Narcotics Control Bureau stepped in and launched a probe after allegations emerged that Chakraborty's brother Showik, would source drugs for the late actor. On Friday, Showik and Rajput's manager Samuel Miranda were sent to NCB custody until September 9. Chakraborty, who has said in interviews and also through a statement by her lawyer Satish Maneshinde, that her relationship with Rajput's family has been strained from the start, has been slut shamed, and branded a murderer, gold digger, social climber, witch and drug peddler by television channels.

The Chakraborty family is currently holed up in their apartment at Primrose, on Juhu Tara Road, with television crews holding constant vigil. They follow the family members each time they step out, with the Chakrabortys having filed a complaint at the Santa Cruz Police Station asking for protection. The building's watchman, who refused to identify himself by name, told mid-day, "It has been relentless. Two weeks ago, I was dragged out and harassed by a news crew. They roughed me up and I have sustained injuries on my arms." An officer from Santa Cruz police station said that cases of safety breaches and trespassing are taken seriously. "If delivery boys are harassed at the gate by the channel staff, we have to step in. Moreover, the building houses over 100 families. Imagine the nuisance they've to bear." He added that Chakraborty would have been evicted by now, had she not been a flat owner.

Chakraborty's doctor father Indrajit fights media frenzy while being taken to the ED office from his residence, where he was questioned for six hours straight. Pic/ Getty Images

Chakraborty's father Indrajit was doctor in the Indian Army. While she studied largely in the Ambala Cantonment, army life meant often having to move from base to base, starting over each time. Chakraborty is believed to have developed an outgoing personality, which helped her bag a job as a VJ on youth channel MTV in Mumbai. She moved here after studying mass communication in Pune.

A friend and frequent stylist of the actor, says, "Rhea was my telephone directory, when I wanted contact numbers of actors to reach out to for work. I was fresh out of college and looking for freelance gigs back then. I didn't have any A-list clients. I texted Rhea saying that I wanted to style her. She had a professional team by her side and was going for a major event [a blockbuster film's success party], but she let me style her, gave me credit and my work took off there on." On the family, she says, "The Chakrabortys have a positive vibe about them, so it's easy to gravitate towards them. They are a tight-knit, warm family who are always there for others. Her father is a doctor, so if we ever need a second opinion, he is our go-to man. My aunt was diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and we reached out to him for medical advice in understanding if the line of treatment is correct."

This stylist refused to be identified for the story, like most others Mid-day spoke to. Friends don't want to be identified, because they say if they are so much as associated with the Chakrabortys, they attract trolls on social media.

Showik Chakraborty arrives for interogation at the ED office in Fort on August 7. Pic/ Suresh Karkera

"We all want to be there for her, but not at the cost of the peace of our families," a friend says. Even actor Shibani Dandekar, whose Instagram post said, "What was her crime? She loved a boy, looked after him through his darkest days, put her life on hold to be there for him and when he took his own life she was crucified. What have we become?" gave us a time to call, but later messaged saying she "wouldn't be able to speak to us right now", and promised to reach out to us later. Another friend of Chakraborty, designer and parenting blogger Simone Khambatta, who had been vocal in her support for the actor on social media, stopped when she was trolled and targeted by a YouTuber who wanted to prove that she was the mystery woman visiting Rajput's Bandra home a day before his death. Some friends say they have been unable to get in touch with anyone in the family since the Patna FIR was lodged - either the family doesn't wish to or is not allowed to (legally speaking) engage socially.

While the investigation agencies continue probing allegations against the Chakrabortys, a section of social media users and some news channels have already, in effect, pronounced her guilty.

A television journalist who didn't wish to be identified for this article, says she had quit the channel she was employed with until a few weeks ago on ethical grounds. "This is a one-man channel. And, he [editor] has decided the line the channel is taking - which is akin to 'Rhea ko fasao'. We were asked to get stories that match that narrative. I was asked to get bank account details of Rhea's father to prove that he bought a house in Ulwe with Sushant's help. But, Sushant and Rhea weren't dating then. We were asked to create a link between producer Sandeep Ssingh and the case, but found none. My reportage proved that." The journalist adds that Rajput's former gym instructor of Rajput and his doctors, verify that he was suffering from a mental health condition, "but the channel was trying to prove he wasn't. In fact, one doctor I spoke to said that Rajput was surviving because Rhea took care of him. I remember standing outside Santa Cruz police station and watching a TV journalist shout to a member of the Mumbai police 'why are you protecting the accused?' What kind of a question is that? She is an accused, not a culprit."

Sushant, Rhea, Showik and his friend seen in these photos posted on social media

Filmmaker Paromita Vohra says Chakraborty's own emotions have been denied and her grief not allowed space.

In her August 30 column for this paper, Vohra wrote of the vilification of Chakraborty as the girlfriend, the baharwali, whose every move is analysed from the lens of not belonging to the family: "Why did Chakraborty say 'I'm sorry babu' to SSR bayed the fixated mob. May be they thought sorry is a word of defeat, used to confess crimes and evade punishment. But, in fact, sorry is a word of compassion, one that recognises the suffering of our loved ones. Love is not a triumphing warrior against difficulty, it is a commitment to witnessing fragility with compassion and trying to heal it, even if it may not succeed."

With almost everyone rooting against her including A-list actor Kangana Ranaut and Rajput's former partner Ankita Lokhande, Chakraborty's publicity team say it's been difficult to drum up any support for her. Any voices in her defence, including that of Vidya Balan, Swara Bhaskar and Tapsee Pannu, emerged only this past week.

A member of her core team - they too have not been spared by the social media trolls - tells us, "No one stood up for her when the worst was coming her way. She eventually had to stand up for herself. It was always an agenda-driven smear campaign and clearly no one wanted to dirty their hands by backing her." She says that in mid-July, even before the Patna FIR was filed, Chakraborty had received murder and rape threats, about which she posted on her social handles. "But, when we reached out to the press to cover it, Bollywood portals refused to carry anything that would sound like it was in her support."

Rhea and Showik Chakraborty

Discussing the Chakraborty-Rajput relationship, the core-team member says it was a new relationship. The two started dating in April 2019, and Chakraborty moved into the actor's Bandra home in December 2019, before moving out on June 8, 2020. She says, "They say that she alienated him from everybody but Sushant and she were new in a relationship. They were still spending time together. It's natural for new couples to spend the first few months intensely with each other. Friends who are secure understand and give them space. She has answered every accusation in her interviews, but what hit her reputation hard was the complaint by the family. She was never close to them, but she hadn't expected this. Gradually, the narrative is changing but, the damage to her reputation is done. It will take years of systematic work to repair it, if someone still risks hiring her." A publicist, who has worked with both Chakraborty and Rajput, says, "She is a good soul, and it was easy to work with her. It will now take a lot of courage for anyone to touch her."

Chakraborty who signed her contract with Yash Raj Films in 2013, went on to act in Mere Dad Ki Maruti and later, Jalebi in 2018, after a cameo appearance in Half Girlfriend. "She wasn't the biggest star, or even gave the feeling that she was headed somewhere big. She was one of those actresses who kept getting small roles here and there," says one director. Her social media fame (she now has 2.9 million followers), then could be linked to the fact that she started dating Rajput. Other than friends like Dandekar, Chakraborty's own circle was made up of social media influencers, writers and yoga teachers.

But, her own work has come to a full stop.

Her next film Chehre, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi, can't find buyers even though it is ready to be sold to an OTT platform. However, neither director Rumi Jaffrey, nor producer Anand Pandit, confirmed this information to mid-day. Jaffrey, in an earlier interview, clarified that he isn't looking at chopping her scenes from the film, contrary to reports.

Television producer Rahul Raj Singh was dating actor Pratyusha Banerjee when she allegedly committed suicide in 2016 after an altercation with him. Singh was booked for abetment after her parents filed a complaint against him

Though she was never a star, the actor was in contention for various projects, a possibility which will naturally dwindle, suggest industry experts. A well-known casting director says, "If Rhea gets a clean chit, there are enough and more producers who will hire her only to make a point about fairness by backing her. This is not the '90s. Rhea will claw her way back if cleared by the CBI. But, until that happens, her work stands suspended." Another industry insider, who has served as director for a web series, says, "I would cast her myself. If Sanjay Dutt can come back, anyone can."

Arguably, Dutt was from a reputable Bollywood and political family. In fact, more than Dutt, Chakraborty's life resembles that of actor Rahul Raj Singh, who gained notoriety as daily soap Balika Badhu star Pratyusha Banerjee's boyfriend. Banerjee committed suicide in 2016, and her parents filed a case against Singh, accusing him of murdering her. A case under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 504, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) was registered, and is still being investigated. "I had a movie I was trying to make, called Bachelors Not Allowed, and had Reliance as financier. They pulled out after the media trial. I have not been able to rent a house in Mumbai since, as people say they don't want to give a house to a 'murderer'. I experienced pain just as her [Pratusha] parents did, but I couldn't even cry, because my tears were called fake. Now, four years later, I am trying to get my life back in order and I hope people give me work. I want to appeal to Sushant's family that they talk to Rhea. At least give her a chance [to explain]."

Paromita Vohra, columnist and filmmaker

It's not just Chakraborty.

With Showik's arrest by the Narcotics Bureau, his future too seems shaky. A former girlfriend says, "He and I spoke a few times right after Sushant's death. He had said that he had to be strong for the sake of his sister because she is devastated. They are a very welcoming family. From the start, Rhea was 'Rhea didi'. Everyone in their friend circle is close to the family. I have gone off social media because it was depressing to see people say things about one of my oldest friends. If someone was going out with Rhea, they'd never be allowed to pay. That's not a gold-digger's behaviour. Showik and I studied together for three years. He is such a chivalrous guy. He would help my mom in the kitchen. I shudder to think where his future lies. He is a bright student. We'd slog for weeks and not score and he'd study for a night and fare really well. Will he be able to put the stigma of being called a 'druggie' behind him?"

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