Sushant S Rajput’s demise sparks ‘privilege club’ conversation; Vivek Oberoi, Anubhav Sinha, Kangana tweet about B-town’s insensitivity

Bollywood, to an outsider, seems like an enigma. The glitz and the glamour and the fame lure in thousands of young, talented actors to Mumbai every year who dream of making it big in the industry. However, behind the lights and glimmer, there lies a dark side that has been brought to the forefront after the shocking demise of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Several industry insiders, like actor Vivek Oberoi, film-maker Anubhav Sinha, producer Nikhil Dwivedi and others have called out the industry for its insensitivity, especially to outsiders. While some of them have been direct in their critique, others have been subtly hinting at the dark underbelly of an industry which otherwise seems attractive and alluring.

Actor Vivek Oberoi, after returning from Rajput’s cremation, took to Instagram to write a heartfelt note for the late actor, in which he also urged the members of the film industry to ‘bi**h less and care more.’


Also Read: Sushant Singh Rajput: The (real) star of ‘Kai Po Che!’, and one who kept it real in ‘Byomkesh’, ‘Dhoni’, and real life

Oberoi said that the industry, as a whole, needs “less power play and more grace and large heartedness, less ego trips and more acknowledgement for deserving talents.” The ‘Company’ actor also said that the industry ‘which calls itself a family’ needs to do some serious introspection.

“This family needs to truly become a family...a place where talent is nurtured not crushed, a place where an artist feels appreciated and not manipulated,” he wrote.

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#RIPSushantSinghRajput 🙏

A post shared by Vivek Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) on Jun 15, 2020 at 11:08am PDT

Film-maker Anubhav Sinha, took to Twitter and wrote that it was time the “Bollywood Privilege Club sit down and think hard tonight.”

The film-maker also posted the definition of the word ‘nepotism’ and asked, “Who decides what a 'fair advantage' is?”

Nikhil Dwivedi, who has donned the producer’s hat for films like ‘Veere Di Wedding’ and ‘Dabangg 3’, in a strongly-worded tweet wrote that the powers-that-be in B-town should have stayed in touch with Rajput.

Dwivedi, began the tweet by saying that sometimes, Bollywood’s hypocrisy gets to him. “High &mighty announcing they shud ve kept in touch wth Sushant..Cmon u didn't! &thts coz his career dipped.”

Taking the “self-appointed ‘gatekeepers of Bollywood’” by the collar, actor Ranvir Shorey said that while it won’t be fair to blame someone else for the step ‘that he (Rajput) took himself,’ something has to be said about such people.

“Something has to be said about the games they play, and their two facedness Something has to be said about the power they wield with zero accountability,” the ‘Angrezi Medium’ actor wrote.

Elaborating on his stance further, Shorey wrote something has to be said about the power ‘they derive from having inherited privilege in the business and the mainstream media sitting in their lap’ and the power to decide who will be a ‘star’ and who will be left out in the cold.


But of course, the actor emphasised that the ‘coterie’ that owns ‘the high stakes table in the casino’ will never be questioned, ‘even if they know it is fixed’.

Actress Kangana Ranaut, who is known for her no-holds-barred opinions and often calls out the industry for nepotism, posted a video on her social media handles where she called Rajput’s suicide a ‘planned murder.’

Vehemently slamming derogatory reports about the actor, Ranaut pointed out that Sushant was a rank holder and asked how he could have a “weak mind”. Taking reference from a post of the star pleading with people to watch his movies as he “didn’t have a godfather” in the industry that had gone viral, she also said that despite his great lineup of films, he didn’t receive any acknowledgement or awards, unlike the other star-kids of the industry.


However, there have also been industry stars who have taken to social media to slam the narrative. Sonam Kapoor, for instance, sent out a tweet where she wrote, “Blaming a girlfriend , ex girlfriend, family , colleagues for someone’s death is ignorant.”

‘Veere Di Wedding’ star Swara Bhasker also took to Twitter to slam the netizens who were blaming Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt for Rajput’s demise all because of a ‘silly game played on a frivolous and pointless chat show.’

Alia and Karan were mocked after fans dug up an old episode of the chat show ‘Koffee With Karan’. In the episode, Alia was asked to rate three male actors in a Rapid Fire question - the choices were Sushant Singh Rajput, Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan. She said, "Sushant Singh Rajput, who?"