Actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death seems to have opened a Pandora’s box on the issue of nepotism and bullying in Bollywood. Abhinav Singh Kashyap, the director of the much-successful Dabangg, has appealed to the government to launch a detailed investigation into the demise of the actor and shared a hard-hitting Facebook post alleging Salman Khan and his family sabotaged his projects.
“My experience is no different. I have experienced exploitation and bullying first hand,” the director said, adding: “The reason I moved out of making Dabangg 2 ten years ago is that Arbaaz Khan in collusion with Sohail Khan and family was trying to take control of my career by bullying me.” He even alleged that Arbaaz Khan sabotaged his second project with Shree Ashtavinayak Films “by personally calling their head Mr. Raj Mehta and threatening him with dire consequences if they made a film with me”.
He also accused Sohail Khan of intimidating the then Viacom CEO, Vikram Malhotra, when he signed a film with Viacom Pictures. “It’s only then that Reliance Entertainment came to my rescue and we forged an enduring partnership for my film Besharam”
The director further wrote, “My enemies are sharp, cunning and always attack me from the back… I know who my enemies are. Let it be known that they are Salim Khan, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan…”
Kashyap said that Sushant’s suicide brings to the forefront “a much bigger problem of what many of us have been dealing with. Exactly what might compel a person to commit suicide? I fear his death is just the tip of the iceberg”.