Bollywood: The rise and fall of Rhea Chakraborty

Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty was finally granted bail, on Wednesday, weeks after being arrested over a drug angle that cropped up during a probe into her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput’s suicide case. She was charged with procuring and financing drugs for Rajput.

This has obviously been a time of great upheaval for the young actress whose brush with fame came when she participated in MTV India’s show TVS Scooty Teen Diva in 2009. She became the youngest VJ on MTV.

She went on to shift careers and got into acting in 2013. Popularity would come a few years later thanks to a role in Telugu movie ‘Tuneega Tuneega’ in 2012.

Her acting credits also include Yash Raj Film’s ‘Bankchor’ and cameo appearances in films such as ‘Half Girlfriend’.

Chakraborty met Rajput in 2013 right after her first Hindi film Yash Raj Films’ ‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti’. He was getting ready to work in ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’. They got along well, but would not start dating until 2019.

On June 14, Rajput killed himself, sparking a crusade for ‘justice’ that would mean a proliferation of murder theories, a race for ‘drug lords’ and a month-long jail term for Chakraborty. Finally after a Rs100,000 bond, the actress is out on bail. Her brother, who was also imprisoned, remains behind bars.

According to media reports, among the conditions for her release, are daily visits to the nearest police station for 10 days after her release. She’s also not allowed to leave the country.

Chakraborty’s incarceration after much questioning by the NCB divided Bollywood with some like Kangana Ranaut blaming her squarely for his decision and others like Swara Bhaskar calling for a thorough investigation before condemnation.

Taking to her Twitter handle, ‘Thappad’ actor Taapsee Pannu reacted to Rhea Chakraborty’s bail: “Hope her time in jail has sufficed egos of people who fulfilled their personal or professional agendas.”

Many questions still remain in the case of Chakraborty – the biggest, what now? Is it over? And, with a brother in prison, a reputation in tatters and a movie community whose links to her have proven disastrous, will she ever be part of the film fraternity again? Or is it time to pack up her bags and cut her losses?