Rhea Chakraborty experienced some tumultuous months after actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, who she was dating. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra apartment, in Mumbai, in June 2020. As the investigation proceeded, Rhea Chakraborty was subjected to media trials and online trolling. In her recent appearance at India Today's Mumbai conclave, the actress opened up on the backlash she faced during that time. Rhea Chakraborty said, “I kind of like the name chudail. I think it's interesting. Back in the day, who was a witch? A witch was a woman who did not subscribe to the patriarchal society or had her own way or had her own opinion that was against the popular opinion of men and patriarchal societies back then. Maybe I am that person, Maybe I am a chudail. Maybe I know how to do black magic. Who knows?”
In September 2020, Rhea Chakraborty was moved to Mumbai's Byculla Jail on drug charges related to the Sushant Singh Rajput case. She was accused of procuring and supplying drugs to the late actor. The actress was granted bail after 28 days.
Talking about her experience in the Byculla jail, Rhea Chakraborty said, “Jail can't be easy. Interesting…It is very interesting because you are moved from society, you are no longer part of the society because you are not fit to be a part of it for whatever reasons. You are no longer a person, you are given a UT number. So, there is a lot of disassociation with the ego, the I. You disassociate with the personality that you are born with or you create from 0 to 9. And, you start viewing yourself as nothing. You are told what to do when to eat…That in itself is a humbling experience for anyone who goes through it.”
Rhea Chakraborty also revealed that she danced with the jail inmates after the Bombay High granted her bail. The actress shared, “The day I got bail, my brother [Showik] didn't get bail and I was devastated and it was the only day I broke down entirely in jail. I had promised all the girls that ‘Jis din bail hogi us din nachungi' ab bail ho gayi but I was not happy. My heart was hurting. So I kinda refused that at first when the jailor came up to me and said, ‘Rehne do tum mat karo.' But as she walked away, I said, you know what I am leaving and I am probably never gonna see these women again. If I can give them that 5 minutes of happiness by putting on a dance performance for them then why the hell not? So, I did and it was the most ecstatic moment of my life because we were doing the Naagin dance on the floor.”
“The excitement, the joy I saw in these women's eyes while I was dancing for them with them is probably the highest of my life till date,” Rhea Chakraborty concluded.