Instead of maligning, celebrate the work and life of Sushant Singh Rajput

It has been a little over a month that the industry lost a gem, Sushant Singh Rajput. Most of us are still reeling from the shock of him being gone, and are talking about how good he was and how much we loved him. However, there are several people who have reacted to Sushant’s passing with extreme negativity and maliciousness. They are building and spreading rumours about his death and how it was all about some big Bollywood conspiracy. These have been spreading rampantly online in the form of jokes, memes and trolls.

Baseless speculations around Sushant’s death have led to vile threats against Dharma Productions’ head honcho Karan Johar, actors Alia Bhatt, Ananya Pandey and others. The stories are being deployed using the biggest weapon we can use while staying at home, social media.

At a time like this, after this personal tragedy added to the ongoing one the world is going through with COVID-19, we should look for the silver lining: The beautiful body of work that Sushant has left behind should be celebrated.

The actor who came into the industry as a simple guy named Manav on the TV show Pavitra Rishta stole our hearts immediately. His acting skills shone through the world of television straight to the big screen with his debut film, Kai Po Che!.

Post that, there have been some powerful movies and banners that Sushant worked with. Be it Yash Raj Films’ Shudh Desi Romance, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani’s PK, Neeraj Pandey’s MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, RSVP’s Kedarnath or the Nitesh Tiwari helmed Chhichhore, he managed to establish himself as an actor to look out for.

To celebrate his talent, we should focus on his energy, his vivacity and passion for the art of cinema instead of hurting sentiments of others. We have a wonderful chance to experience his brilliance once again with Dil Bechara that will release on the web later this month. The love that everyone, not only across India but all over the world, has shown Sushant with this film, proves that we can collectively look forward to something with positivity in us rather than malice towards anyone.