What seemed to be a simple case of suicide by Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) is still not demystified even after nearly three months. Arnab Goswami led Republic Channel held on, apparently knowing more than what met the eyes. The episode has now emerged like the tentacles of octopuses into sex, drugs, mafia influence afflicting the world of celluloid.
Rhea continues under detention and has named a few others, who in turn have named a few more, the list now including the A grade artists like Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Rakul Preet, Sara Ali Khan and the likes. In the centre is many from Kwan, its CEO Dhruv Chitgopekar and Madhu Mantena, Jaya Saha and Karishma- Deepika’s manager, the names most never would have heard before.
The investigation which began as a suicide or murder case is now a full-blown drug racket, needing many agencies to co-ordinate and act together.
The proliferation of drugs into youths is not a secret at all. Rave parties are rarely without hard drugs. The peddlers often push the drugs initially for free and succumb and enslave one. They, in turn, become pushers, and the circle expands. The addiction often results in a point of no return, where a son could kill his mother for refusing to part with money for buying drugs.
Stars are celebrities and are keenly watched and imitated by the youths in the country. Most think that the movie image is real, unaware of a face behind the mask. If they were responsible, they would not have blatantly disregarded the laws and could be seen consuming with psychotropic substances openly before cameras. The drug mafia benefitted by such boisterous acts, as it beneficially impacted by luring many more into customers. Drugs are no longer taboo and have become a status symbol for the party hosts to ensure steady supplies. It had to end.
I only have to quote one actor, Sanjay Dutt, who was the naughty boy of Bollywood. He was a criminal to the core by breaking many laws, from possessing offensive firearms, to the consumption of drugs and served a stiff term in the jail. He admitted his mistakes and came out a reformed human and the world forgave him and even making his comeback film yet another success.
Movie stars, most are bad examples in real life, and the roles they play in the movie is for the gullible viewers only. The huge revenues, shifting from the cheap standalone movie halls to glitzy cineplexes, have all made stardom more attractive than ever. Therefore, the mafia doesn’t want to loosen their stranglehold with money and drugs.
What the government doing is not a witch-hunt, but a much-needed cleanup of the dirt under the movie carpet. The gory tales of casting couches must end, the drugs mafia must be booted out, for now, and forever. SSR has died but helped in a massive sanitization of the industry for the benefit of all.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
