Two-months have passed so far since the untimely and tragic demise of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. I still remember how mentally taxing it was to pen down about him on the fateful day of 14 June.
The very fact that he is never going to mesmerize our hearts with his infectious smile again was disturbing and heart-wrenching at the same time. Thus, earlier we decided to write on the other bright sides of the actor that regrettably many are forgetting about amid the constant hue and cry over his death.
As this shocked the nation and understandably so, why is media dying over finding a ‘culprit’ for the nation to know? While everyone awaits a fruitful investigation of his death, how is the media frenzy justified over such an ill-fated tragedy?
The blame game spearheaded by a section of media in consonance with a section of conspiracy theorists, especially hailing from the film industry is blatantly shameful and objectionable on innumerable counts.
“From sleazy conspiracy theories to cooked up stories and fabricated post-mortem reports, we have seen it all in this media feeding frenzy. I don’t need to name anyone but one particular figure from the media has been leading the pack when it comes to this kind of blatant misreporting. Reporters on the field have felt helpless as editors twisted the narrative. This has caused unbelievable damage to the credibility of TV news,” writes Saurabh Gupta, a journalist by profession.
While the inevitable prime-time dramas have crossed all its limits with the power of decibels, another debate that it sparked off was of ‘nepotism’ in the Indian film industry. While healthy debates where all the sides are heard are welcome, debates that fan certain propaganda-machineries are not.
Though ‘nepotism’ is a hard fact among many professions across the world, entering into a logical discourse highlighting the challenges faced by the ‘outsiders’ in Bollywood could have brought in positive changes in the industry.
But as this aspect was meddled directly with Rajput’s death, in the name of seeking justice several megalomaniacs of the country could not help but make it all about themselves. Suddenly, the bright side of seeking justice for Sushant seemed overshadowed by caricatured truths and calculated ploys.
The very goal of ‘justice’ was further cornered when media created its own ‘villains’ out of his death mystery. As Rhea Chakroborty seemed the perfect furnishable ‘vamp’, the likes of Alia Bhatt became the easy targets of the ‘anti-nepotism camp’. An organized ripple of ‘rape threats’ alongside denouncements was just about to pour in for them!
If seeking ‘justice’ becomes tantamount to denigrating other established personalities in a certain profession rather than attempting to address the lacunae associated with it, the efficacy of such efforts to justice renders automatically questionable.
As this ‘nepotism’ debate targets specific personalities, what it does overall is to deplore and deject an entire industry that is broadly known for projecting a liberal-secular cultural ethos through its creations. What apparently appeared to be an ‘inside’ versus ‘outside’ debate, soon turned into a political gimmick with artists willing to choose either of the sides and rally with either of the camps.
While actors who have hitherto been known for being politically vocal against several government moves are categorized belonging to the ‘inside’ camp, the actors on the other spectrum organically became the representatives of the ‘outsiders’. Despite no water-tight compartmentalization, thanks to the constant prime time rumbling, polarised narratives, aversive to artistic faculties, have been carefully crafted.
Adding the cherry on the top, the relentless tug of war between the Governments of Bihar and Maharashtra, between the center and the state governments are exhausting and directionless. If the motto is to serve Sushant justice, why is there no coherence in terms of investigation that should have been prioritized the foremost? How does death as unfortunate as this became the focal point of political colors?
Since day one, Indian paparazzi did not spare Sushant’s family members and the close ones the horror of media inquisitiveness. An over-curious media did not even hesitate to interrupt his grieving family amid the catastrophe. One of his sisters, visibly in distress, was shown pleading to the journalists for leaving them alone. The sensitivity towards a grieving family on the part of media was out of the question!
The saga does not end here.
One of the most discredited features of this media viciousness has been to shift the focus completely away from the issues of mental health. What caused his death is debatable and should be a matter of speedy investigation, though the initial conversation that it sparked over the concerns of people’s mental health was rather significant and at least deserved certain fruitful engagements.
Yes, Sushant deserves justice, and undoubtedly so, if there is a foul play. But the media’s Kangaroo court like behavior in delivering TRP-based ‘justice’ is a sham that needs to be repudiated. Rational minds are welcome in mounting credible criticisms and speaking truth to power so far as the industry lobbies are concerned, provided they come up with reasonable arguments and the zeal to reform.
Had the scientifically-inclined brilliant actor Sushant been alive, would he have approved of such ‘mockery’ in the name of justice for him? Even his last film Dil Bechara is a celebration of love, life, and hope. Do we really have none among the three left now?