Sushant Singh Rajput: The Story Against Nepotism

I found out about the news from a stray tweet by Shah Rukh Khan, and I was shocked into disbelief. Sushant Singh Rajput, the 34-year-old actor, was dead. Amid this global pandemic I first thought it was a COVID-19 infection — but it wasn't. His death was ruled a suicide by Mumbai police. There was no suicide note.

Nothing has been confirmed about whether industry pressure played any role in his death, and depression alone may have been the cause. Regardless, his death sparked a fierce discussion online about Bollywood's power structures — while much of India's old media tread carefully.

Here, Kangana Ranaut speaks her mind on SSR's death. In the video, she doesn't mince words — she calls it a "planned murder." This is not the first time she has spoken against nepotism in Bollywood. Previously dismissed as simply "outspoken," her critique of the struggle non-insiders face now found a much wider audience.

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja was trolled for her condolence tweet, with thousands asking her to show empathy for SSR's family. On social media, many pointed at Karan Johar, alleging he had formed a clique against SSR. Old Koffee with Karan clips — in which Johar asks guests to rank actors on talent or looks — resurfaced, and viewers re-read the once-innocuous answers as attempts to diminish Sushant as an outsider who didn't belong.

The Indian Express examined how SSR was trying to make it on his own in a world structured around nepotism and cronyism.

Abhinav Singh Kashyap — director of Dabangg and brother of Anurag Kashyap — added his own allegations in a Facebook post, detailing his experiences with the industry and naming Sohail Khan, Arbaaz Khan, and Salman Khan as having intimidated him. Kashyap alleged their actions harmed his mental health, and blamed YRF and other institutions that propagate nepotism.

If an actor of Sushant Singh Rajput's talent faced such an uphill climb, the argument went, then Bollywood's unforgiving attitude toward outsiders — and its forgiveness toward less-deserving star kids — is mired in cronyism. (Certainly not all star kids are undeserving — but the industry's professional standards for them are, critics say, far too low.)

Originally published June 2020. His death was ruled a suicide; none of the alleged links between industry figures and his death have been established.