Actor Rhea Chakraborty’s arrest on Tuesday in a drugs case linked to the death of Sushant Singh Rajput sparked a slew of social media posts from members of the Hindi film industry, with many condemning the “witch-hunt” and media trial in the case.
Chakraborty was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in the case after three days of questioning.
Among those who voiced support for the actor were actors Swara Bhaskar, Taapsee Pannu and directors Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, Alankrita Shrivastava and writer Atika Chohan.
TV actor Kritika Kamra slammed the media for peddling “bloodlust and hate”.
Actor and producer Nikhil Dwivedi, who produced Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg 3, offered to work with Chakraborty “when this is all over”.
Producer Pritish Nandy called for justice for both Rhea Chakraborty and Sushant Singh Rajput.
On Tuesday, Chakraborty was seen arriving at the NCB office in Mumbai wearing a black T-shirt which said “Roses are red, violets are blue, Let’s smash patriarchy, me and you”.
The message was echoed by several Bollywood celebrities such as Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Kubra Sait, Shabana Azmi, Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar on social media posts.
Last week, the Producers Guild of India had released a statement saying, “The tragic death of a young promising star has been used as a tool to defame and slander the film industry and its members.”
The Guild had said that a picture was being painted of the industry “as a terrible place for outsiders to aspire to; a place that treats those who dare to enter it with contempt and derision; a murky den of substance abuse and criminality.”
It also condemned the rape and death threats that women members of the industry were facing, saying it was “unacceptable and must stop now.”
The Guild had called on the media to “stop fanning the flames”.
“There are some things more important than advertising revenues and ratings—things like common decency,” it had said.