Producer Sandip Ssingh breaks his silence over allegations levelled against him and various controversies surrounding his role in Sushant Singh Rajput’s life. Last night, the filmmaker even posted his personal chats shared with the late actor and his sister on social media
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 7, 2020)

Taking off from our last conversation (published on June 29), you had said that Sushant and you go back a long way. You even went and visited his father in Patna. But his family has come forth and said that they don’t know you. Many don’t believe that Sushant and you were close friends. What is the truth?
Sushant and I met in 2011 and I had offered him the TV show Saraswatichandra. He’d said he did not want to do shows and wanted to get into movies. I liked his honesty and he liked the fact that I told him to focus on films. That is how we became friends. We travelled together, had meals together. But there was no occasion where he could introduce me to his family. So, how will they know me? Is it necessary that if we are friends with a star, their entire family has to know us? My friendship with him was deep and it dates back years. People have been questioning it and I was forced to put out my private chats with Sushant on social media (last night), to just tell people that we were friends. My silence has been misconstrued as my weakness. No one had personally called and told me that he’s no more. I also saw it on TV, after which Mahesh Shetty and I travelled there together in my car. I thought many people, including his friends from the industry, would come. It was just Mahesh and me. If I saw a sister, alone in this situation when the family was scattered all over, should I have thought of my career, my body language, how I look or how I gesture to someone with a thumbs-up? Should I have fled from the scene? What wrong did I do by helping a family that was grieving a severe loss? Main to uss maiyyat mein bhi kaandha deta hoon jisko main nahi jaanta, yeh to mera yaar tha… I don’t understand what the problem is if I arranged for his funeral and took on responsibilities while his family was away. Are we now implying that if we see someone in trouble, we should scoot, because trying to help someone can land us in trouble? Insaniyat ki nahin, kamzori aur buzdili ki haar honi chahiye.

In the last 20 days, you were captured on a news channel dodging the camera crew and fleeing the scene in a car. Your colleague, actor Shekhar Suman, even said that if you are honest, you must not hide.
When did I try to run away? I spoke to Bombay Times, right after his funeral. Even before the family could speak, I spoke to the press openly. Even before debates happened. Main kahan bhaaga bhai? If I had done something wrong, I would not have spoken out. I am a filmmaker, and I have a zillion other things to attend to, apart from giving media bytes. The times are such that people are unwell; friends have been facing troubles on the health front. I was asked for interviews, I gave them. But eventually, people started accusing me, questioning everything I had said. Usko todke marodke uske meanings nikaalne shuru ho gaye… News without proof is being shown on TV. It seems the ED had summoned me. Who has seen the summons? The police and the ED would have called me if they had found something to question me. I stood with the family for three days through thick and thin. There are visuals of that, and people are questioning me about it? Gunehgar maan liya mujhe? I was shocked that no one from the industry showed up at his house or at the hospital. Some people came to the funeral.

After your interview, Rhea Chakraborty, Samuel Haokip and several others have stepped forward to say that Sushant never mentioned you in the time that they were with him.
In one-and-a-half years, I was busy making films and so was he. He had his projects that kept him occupied, I had my own production ventures to look into. The biopic on Prime Minister Modi required a lot of effort and my 100 per cent focus. Friends go out off touch when they have work. Are you perpetually talking to the same set of friends who you were with in Class 10 or in college? Practically, it’s not possible. Just because we had not been in touch for a year or more, and he had not told me things, should I not have gone to his house when I learnt of his demise? Should I have forgotten our good old days and thought about log kya kahenge? Police poonchtaach karegi?

Why did you wait for so long to speak?
Main sehm gaya! My friends, mom and family reprimanded me for being there for Sushant’s family. They said, ‘You have made a mistake by going there. Tune toh aa bail mujhe maar wala kaam kar diya. Baaki industrywale, his friends are intelligent, but you are an emotional fool to go and help.’ I got scared, darr gaya main. I want to make films and I have a career ahead. So, I became quiet. But for the last 20 days, there are media people with cameras outside my building, as if I am some fugitive. I am trying to lead a normal life, I continued with my movements, but people have crossed their limits. They are showing footage of my car and saying main bhaag raha hoon!

There is speculation that you were planning to flee the country...
Am I a wanted criminal or fugitive that I will run away? I have given 20 years to this industry. I have studied in a Hindi-medium school, I have sold ice-cream before becoming a journalist, a company CEO and eventually, an independent producer. Mira Road mein raha, CEO ki naukri ki to learn filmmaking because I did not have resources to formally learn it. Uske baad, I worked on my own, started my company, and made four modest films on my own steam. Should I let it all go? Why should I?

The ambulance driver has been in the news for being in constant contact with you. Your CDR has been accessed and now he is being questioned by the CBI.
Meri toh izzat tak ko nahi baksha gaya! When people started writing nonsense about my mother is when I could not take it and decided to speak up. Social media has been so unkind. I am breaking my silence because of that. Did anyone ever think that mujhpe aur Mahesh Shetty pe kya guzri hogi? People, who didn’t know Sushant, are not his friends or associates, are screaming on national debates that I should be arrested. My question is, for what?

There is talk that after the ambulance driver, it’s your turn with the CBI.
Please tell me, when have I not made myself available to any officer from any department to answer their questions? I am ready to face anyone to get justice for Sushant. I was demanding a CBI probe in my interviews. A parallel media trial is working like it’s above the Supreme Court and the CBI. I am ready to face the CBI. I have already gone through a round of questioning. I cannot disclose the conversation, but they asked all the questions that people have been asking me anyway and I have not hidden a thing from them.

You are also being connected with Disha Salian’s death.
My last chat with her happened in 2017. She had come to my office — as a Cornerstone employee — to discuss a project for an actor she was representing. The meeting was coordinated by my office staff. Then, I heard that she died by suicide on June 9. That is all.

When was the last time you spoke with Sushant?
It was a normal chat, one and a half years ago, before I started making the PM Modi biopic. Yes, we used to chat on messages a lot before that. Even the film, Vande Bharatam, was being planned around that time.

With the drugs and the mental health angles being probed, did you know if Sushant consumed any substance or that he had a mental health issue?
We had a respectful friendship. He never did such things in front of me. If he did anything behind my back, I wouldn’t know. The Sushant I saw and knew was a sharp, intelligent actor, a great dancer, writer, reader and someone who enjoyed learning new things. If you read our chats, you would know that we met over meals, not drinks.

Surjeet Singh Rathore, who had apparently announced a film with Sushant, has alleged that you were a ‘mastermind’ in this case, and has spoken of a Dubai connection.
He needs to be clear about who he is first. He got publicity, he announced a film on Sushant and now, where has he gone? When we were to take Sushant’s body for cremation, the police saw him and asked me who he was. I said I didn’t know him. Sushant’s jijaji OP Singh’s team was already there to help with things. The next thing I know, he is on TV and making accusations. He made the most of the publicity he got. His comments are being taken seriously even without someone checking on his credentials. And Dubai connection! There was a picture of me with Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and another man, who they had identified as Dawood! It turned out to be a production designer, who has credible work to his name. He had to step forward and identify himself.

What has this entire phase meant for you?
There is pain and anger — thousands of people are calling me with suggestions, and thank God, I didn’t listen to them. I am suffering and I know what I am going through. My family is asking me to leave this industry and work somewhere else. My mother and sister have suffered in silence. People are hitting my car when I drive out of the compound. The society is asking me to vacate my flat. People have tried to barge into my house with cameras. For what? What have I done? A lot of people know what I have done, why can’t they speak up? Everyone is waiting for me to break my silence. I did that twice. This is the third time. Talking to the media, it feels like I am in the Supreme Court answering questions. I feel like I’m facing a trial. I have spoken the truth, and I am still answering allegations which are baseless, levelled by people who seek publicity. I will definitely take legal action against those people who have troubled me for no reason.

In hindsight, do you think remaining silent was the correct decision?
Today, I feel that maybe going and standing with the family in their time of need was wrong. Maybe, I should have been selfish and not gone there. Saara bakheda hi nahi hota! Taras khaao mujhe pe, main maafi maangta hoon if I have hurt sentiments.