Calls for boycott of powerful actors in Bollywood like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and filmmaker Karan Johar continue to gain traction on social media as greiving fans of Sushant Singh Rajput single them out as forces who stalled the careers of outsiders by playing favourites.
Charges of nepotism and favouritism plaguing Bollywood has also gained ground.
In the last few hours, the hashtags #BoycottKhans and #BoycottSalman have become increasingly popular. Earlier, there was also a case filed against Salman, Johar, Ekta Kapoor and Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Bihar claiming that these power brokers stalled Rajput’s career.
Singer Sona Mohapatra singled out Salman for his passive aggressive tweet from a day ago where he urged his fans to be understanding of Rajput’s fan base who were hurling abuses at him. On June 21, a seemingly-magnanimous Salman even urged his fans not to be enraged about Rajput’s followers abusing him and asked them to understand the emotions behind their grief.
“A large-hearted PR move from the one and only poster boy of toxic masculinity! Of course he felt no such need to tweet or apologise for the vile threats that his digital paid army sent out to intimidate & bully others in the past. Got his dad to speak everytime he screwed up,” said Mohapatra in a tweet.
She didn’t stop there. When asked by a fan about why singer Arijit Singh’s song from ‘Sultan’ was re-recorded, Mohapatra had her own theory where nepotism came into play.
“Unfortunately and sadly, music composers and directors have zero say on who sings their songs. After scores of random rejections on compositions, they had rather just get a project done with. I respect young Vishal Mishra for having stood his ground to retain my voice in Baby, Gold, RARE,” answered Mohapatra.
Singer Sonu Nigam has also called out music companies for their mafia behaviour and arm-twisting tactics. Directors like Anubhav Singh Kashyap have also blasted Salman and family for destroying his career.
Salman Khan, one of the most bankable actors in Bollywood, also has a history of being accused of meddling with careers of those who fall out of favour with him. Fondly called ‘bhai’ meaning brother, many insiders believe that he can be a giant bully if you rub him the wrong way.
FANS CONTINUE TO MOURN
Fans of Rajput also took to the social media to express their disappointment at established actors like Shah Rukh Khan not supporting new blood enough.
Apart from social media outrage that continues unabated since Rajput’s death, there was a prayer meet for the late actor at his residence in Patna attended by local politicians.
His friend and colleague also revealed the poster of the project ‘Vande Mataram’ that Rajput was planning to co-produce and act in.
Even a week after Rajput’s death, fans are desperate to find closure and are eager to call out the toxic work culture in Bollywood that may have led to Rajput’s downfall.
Fans are also dealing with their own grief. A 12-year-old boy allegedly ended his life in the same manner that the Bollywood actor did a week ago, by hanging himself in his house. This is the third young fan to have taken such an extreme step.
The family claimed that the Class 6 student would remain glued to the TV watching the news of the actor’s suicide before he took the extreme step on Saturday.
The police said that the boy from Greater Noida, was at home with his mother, elder sister and grandmother. He went up to his room upstairs, bolted the door from inside and hanged himself with a cloth.
