Madhur Bhandarkar: ‘Maybe the industry ignored Sushant Singh Rajput’

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has said that the film industry “ignored” Sushant Singh Rajput. He was talking about the “boycott culture” against Bollywood films that has gained steam over the past few years. (Also read: Sushant Singh Rajput’s MS Dhoni The Untold Story to re-release in theatres)

Talking about the recent trends of boycott calls against Hindi film, Madhur told Maniesh Paul on his podcast, “I have noticed that this (boycott) happened largely after the passing of Sushant Singh Rajput. Maybe the industry ignored him… He was from a non-film background and he came and he struggled… It was a very unfortunate, untimely demise and from there, the anger amid the public got aggravated. It is the public’s opinion,”

Madhur added, “It has happened many times before. Like in the case of Gangubai Kathiawadi, people watched it and it was nice. I think this (boycott culture) is a phase. If the film is nice and the content is strong, people will go and watch. People watched Kantara, The Kashmir Files, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, it’s not like people don’t go to watch the movies.”

Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide in June 2020. Ever since his death, his fans and several celebs from the industry have claimed that some big names in the Bollywood industry sidelined and ignored the actor. Since June 2020, several online trends have also emerged, calling for bans on films of the some of biggest stars in the Hindi film industry.

Alia Bhatt was among those who were targeted for being star kids working in the industry. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi came out last year, and faced boycott calls ahead of the release. However, it performed well at the box office and also received rave reviews. Shah Rukh Khan’s latest Pathaan also faced calls for a ban, but has emerged among the top-grossing Hindi films of all time.

Sushant’s 2016 sports drama, MS Dhoni The Untold Story, is all set for a re-release in theatres on May 12. The film emerged as one of top grossers of Sushant’s short film career. He also received several nominations in the Best Actor category at that year’s awards ceremonies for his performance. Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the film also stars also stars Kiara Advani, Disha Patani, Anupam Kher and Bhumika Chawla.