The social media narrative around how the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has impacted the industry he belonged to changed dramatically a day later, after Mr Rajput's funeral. Actresses Kriti Sanon and Shraddha Kapoor, Mr Rajput's co-stars in the films Raabta and Chhichhore, were among the handful of film fraternity members to attend the last rites. Short afterwards, Twitter was inundated by a flood of tweets praising both stars for making their actions count, rather than words. Just a day ago, however, both had been shamed online for failing to post tributes to Sushant Singh Rajput on social media.
Kriti Sanon's sister Nupur revealed on Instagram that they had been subjected to harassment and abuse for the silence. "You are so heartless," Kriti Sanon was told, her sister said.
Twitter has now changed its mind about the actresses - after the funeral pictures were released that, many noted that social media had been quick to judge Kriti Sanon and Shraddha Kapoor.
Mad respect for Shraddha Kapoor and Kriti Sanon for showing up at Sushant's funeral. You may not like them as actors but as human beings they're gold. Did no show off on twitter but were there with him in his final journey. Lord please protect them
— Queerantine (@piggy_chopps) June 15, 2020
shraddha and kriti didn't put up any post on sns yesterday but today they're at his funeral. people really need to stop judging celebrities who didn't post about him publicly. social media activity isn't everything.
— nyctophile. (@sprihaxx) June 15, 2020
Putting up long essays on SM doesn't show ur concern. #Kriti and #ShraddhaKapoor didn't post anything yesterday nd stupid people started mocking them..
— Puja Kashyap (@PujaKas61475324) June 15, 2020
Today only Kriti, Shraddha, Rhea and Varun Sharma was at his funeral..
Now who is fake and real?
Shraddha and kriti did not post anything related to him yesterday but came at his funeral
— shivin_kaira (@SKaira4) June 15, 2020
Stop judging them on social media basis please!
Actress Rhea Chakraborty, a close friend of Sushant Singh Rajput, was pictured at the hospital that conducted the post-mortem ahead of the funeral. Ms Chakraborty turned off comments on her Instagram account after Mr Rajput's death; she has, however, not escaped abuse on Twitter but, like Kriti Sanon and Shraddha Kapoor, is now being hailed online.
The pictures from the funeral are telling - almost none of Bollywood's A-list attended, despite having declared themselves shocked and heart-broken by Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Other than Ms Sanon and Ms Kapoor, the funeral attendees included actors Vivek Oberoi, Ranvir Shorey and Varun Sharma, and filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor, who directed Mr Rajput in two films, including his debut Kai Po Che!.
Ranvir Shorey and a handful of film fraternity members have denounced their colleagues on Twitter in separate, mostly veiled posts. Mr Shorey tweeted powerfully about how "inherited privilege" has helped create "gatekeepers of Bollywood":
It wouldn't be fair to blame someone for a step that he took himself. He was playing a high stakes game, where it's win or lose it all. But something has to be said about the self appointed 'gatekeepers of Bollywood'.
— Ranvir Shorey (@RanvirShorey) June 15, 2020
In a blistering tweet, actor Nikhil Dwivedi accused his colleagues of "hypocrisy" - the funeral pictures make his case for him.
At times our movie industry's hypocrisy gets to me. High &mighty announcing they shud ve kept in touch wth Sushant..
— Nikhil Dwivedi (@Nikhil_Dwivedi) June 14, 2020
Cmon u didn't! &thts coz his career dipped. So STFU! R u in touch with Imran Khan, Abhay Deol &others? No!
But u were, whn they were doing well#SushantSinghRajput
Neither Ranvir Shorey nor Nikhil Dwivedi named names; however, the dots are easy to join. Filmmaker Karan Johar, who wrote about blaming himself for not having been in touch with Sushant Singh Rajput for a year, and actress Alia Bhatt trended all of Monday on Twitter; social media pointed out to both that Ms Bhatt had spoken dismissively about Sushant Singh Rajput on Mr Johar's show Koffee With Karan - onto which Mr Rajput was never invited despite his many successes onscreen.
Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai home on Sunday; police say he died by suicide and are investigating.
(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.) Helplines: AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours) Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) iCall: 022-25521111 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm) Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)
