After films based on the life of Sushant Singh Rajput were announced, filmmakers feel that this comes across as capitalising on a tragedy
Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 22, 2020)

How soon is too soon to make a film on a tragedy? The sad demise of Sushant Singh Rajput has not only started a conversation about mental health but also kicked up a storm in Bollywood with many attributing his death to the hard time that outsiders have in the film industry. Now within days of his death, two films were announced which are inspired by the life of the late actor with one even starring TikTok star Sachin Tiwari, who had become a rage on social media for his uncanny resemblance to Rajput. This again has put forth the question of whether it’s all about milking an opportunity.

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta, who has directed real-life inspired films such as Shahid (2013), Aligarh (2015) and Omerta (2018), says ultimately it all depends on the intent behind the film. “When you make a film on a true story, it’s always about the intention of the filmmaker. If the intent is to let the world know of the actual story, then it’s a different thing, but if it is to capitalise on something that’s topical, that’s not ethical,” he explains.

Filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan feels that the timing of the announcements makes it seem that the makers just want to cash in. “Whatever they do will not be a truthful account because the investigation on Sushant’s death is still going on. Filmmakers have a habit of exploiting current topics. We saw how so many films were announced after the 26/11 attacks to an extent that a certain filmmaker even visited the location just a few days after the tragedy struck,” he says.

Calling it ‘not’ a legit move, director Anurag Basu feels that a film, even if it says is inspired by Rajput’s life, is way too suggestive. “Since his death, everybody has been gossiping. So, this is an extension of that. We can’t say what the film is about, as nobody knows Sushant’s story other than his near ones,” Basu opines.

In such a scenario, the consent of the family of the person is paramount otherwise, it becomes illegal, feels filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee. “As far as the sensitivity of the subject is concerned, by speculating on whether he was killed or was it a suicide, basically you’re harping on sensationalism. Lot of people tried to do that after the death of Sridevi and Divya Bharti, too,” points the director.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri refused to even dignify the project with a response as “this film will never even be made. It looks shady”.

However, Vijay Shekhar Gupta, the producer of the film, titled Suicide or Murder: A Star Was Lost, disagrees that it’s going to be an exploitation of someone’s tragic death.

“If I wanted to cash in on a popular subject for fame, I’d have made a film on Shaheen Bagh or the Anti-CAA protests. This is a comment on the film industry and how it treats outsiders. First we saw Jiah Khan and now Sushant. I want to show the world the dark side of the Hindi film industry and how it functions,” he says
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