Vikrant Massey reveals Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide and media trials disturbed him a lot: Bollywood is not a family but a community

The untimely demise of Sushant Singh Rajput on June 14, 2020, sent shockwaves through the industry and the nation, triggering an outpouring of grief from fans and sparking intense discussions about mental health and the pressures within the film industry. Vikrant Massey recently shared his views on media trial in Sushant's case and admitted that it did bothered him a lot.

When asked if the number of suicides which happened in the past couple of years including actors of his generation, disturbed him, he told Smita Prakash in her podcast that it did disturb him especially for Sushant, and the media trails that followed after his demise.

Unfortunately, alongside the genuine concerns and condolences, Sushant's death also became the subject of an extensive media trial, with various speculations, theories, and conjectures circulating across news channels and social media platforms. His personal life, relationships, and professional struggles were scrutinized in the public domain, without verified information or official statements.

He said that Sushant was a junior from Shiamak and they did television together. While Sushant was doing Pavitra Rishta, Vikrant was doing Balika Vadhu at that time. He said that he couldn't understand the fact that there were so many machineries working at that time with some kind of ulterior motive.

"It went up to like 45 days but people enjoyed a lot for the initial 15 days. I think that is what we are. That is also a part of our reality. And it's heartbreaking," Vikrant said.




When asked about the deafening silence of Bollywood stars who could've spoken at that time or rallied around mentioning the fact that Bollywood doesn't act like a unit, Vikrant replied, "That's the reason I say I cannot call it a family. It is a community but it is not a family."

He then cited an example of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara song which was played on Doordarshan to promote national integration and unity in diversity and said, "Aaj kaha dekhne milta hai (Where can you see it today?), Don't we need communal harmony today? It was during the times of the Mughals, the British and it's still there, but people are scared today."



In addition, when the interviewer said that people of Bollywood were also silent during the boycott calls, Vikrant replied, "It's a double edged sword. It's a catch-22 situation. Jo kehta wo phasta hai, jo nahi kehta usko coward kehte hai. So where do you go? By the end of the day what one does is, which I sometimes thinks is the best way, is ignorance."

He further added, "Even a normal common man for his or her belief is cancelled, trolled, especially on social media where you will find educated trolls. They are so-called educated but their behaviour is the same. Cancel culture is also unfortunately seeping in our lives."

Commenting on celebrities getting trolled for expressing themselves on Karan Johar's popular chat show Koffee With Karan, Vikrant said that he has also gotten a taste of that. "There are so many things that I would love to talk to you about but I can't, because I know there will be a major pushback. So, I would not openly talk about so many things," he concluded.

On the work front, Vikrant was last seen in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail, which went on to become a stellar hit. The movie has also been submitted for Oscars as an independent entry.

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