An actor hailing from the middle class, who had with him a row of appreciation because of his inseparable talent, quits his beautifully unbeautiful life. Questions arose as to what could’ve been the cause. But dear media, aren’t you broken by the loss? You’ve stooped to the shallow extensions just to have something running on your display.
Sushant was an artist and it demands nothing more than the overwhelming public response for an artist to consider that he is the luckiest creature. But did we do that? Did we ever say his role in PK was at par with Anushka and Aamir? Did we say, irrespective of being a native, he nailed the role in Kedarnath? Probably not. Because back then, it was more trendy to accuse him of playing anti-Hindu characters.
Such controversies get a critic real, legitimate fame. However, today we are exposing our hypocrisy by expressing our concern for his death. He’s gone and with him has gone away his secretive grieves. The loss is hardly over and a section of opportunists have taken over saying, “the industry mistreated him, so he quit his life”.
Sir/Ma’am, aren’t you a part of the same industry. Don’t you own a production house? Why didn’t you approach him? Seeing your social and political concern and jibes at the industry, your fans expect virtue from you. Unfortunately, you too are late, either deliberately or out of your distinguished image, and today you are demanding justice. It’s similar to Bollywood stars voicing against racism and also promoting fairness cream. The industry was unfair to him, but if the industry is a hub of nepotism, then why have star kids like Abhishek Bachchan and Bobby Deol not succeeded.
Let’s revise a similar case. Actress Jiah Khan who was well connected to the industry. Even though her film career was limited to three movies, unfortunately, she quit her life. Who is responsible? Nepotism or the selfish industry where thousand of dreams are crushed and cursed every day, and the rest go in vain. This industry gives quick fame to a person, but it is even quicker to wipe off their name, and many stalwarts have lost more than they gained. They have dived deep into the industry, but while coming back to the surface, nobody is there to offer a hand.
Zohra Sehgal and AK Hangal are a few names cinema lovers hardly remember, but these names had their grand presence in the industry and unfortunately were forgotten about prior to you and me. The glamorous life here isn’t easy, but the ones who’ve been established here aren’t only the Kapoor’s, Khan’s or Bachchan’s. It is also a picture of a Pakistani refugee, a mild Delhi based orphan and a tall Allahabadi rejected by many. Yes, they dominated the industry, but the industry has been equally harsh and cruel to them.
Karan Johar is the cause of nepotism, but has he only launched star kids? Which family does Siddharth Malhotra belong to? Salman Khan ruins lives out of odds, then why is Arijit Singh still loved so much in the industry?
All claims go to waste except for one that is, “what did we do to counter this nepotism”. We aren’t just a random group of people. We are the ones who have made most of the recent Khan movies flop at the box office. We are one of the reasons for the evolution of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ayushman Khurana and a long list of actors who grew from unnoticeable stints.
We can throw a series of trolls at Rahul Gandhi just because he’s a dynast but are completely fine with Chirag Paswan and Aditya Thackeray. And the same is confined within the film industry, where we only reserve a place to troll Abhishek Bachchan and Bobby Deol but are completely fine with Ranbir Kapoor and Varun Dhawan.
Awards don’t justify acting. Somebody like Salman Khan who has spent more than 30 years in the industry has received best actors award only for Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Sultan, but all these years he has been in the public domain out of the response he receives. Couldn’t this be directed towards Sushant? Could be, but we didn’t want to. We are obsessed with established faces. The movies please us enough. No point sparing to think what these stars are up to.
For millennials, the film industry is just a place of luxury and all they have to do to support is buy tickets. But your beloved stars need you to cherish and triumph because to be in your memory they have forgotten their own lives.