Sanchita
In the wake of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and the investigation that followed the case, Rhea Chakraborty’s witch hunt left Bollywood divided as well.
Leading names like Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Zoya Akhtar had also strongly condemned media’s behaviour towards Rhea.
Chakraborty had been accused of abetment to suicide by SSR’s family. Back in September, when Rhea was under the scanner of 3 agencies; Narcotics Control Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, the actress had alleged that she was subjected to a media trial.
Actor-producer Nikhil Dwivedi (of Scam 1992 fame) had tweeted his support for Chakraborty, saying that he would like to work with her ‘when all this is over’. Enraged netizens had immediately slammed him for backing Rhea.
In conversation with Hindustan Times, Dabangg Producer Nikhil opened up about this tweet, explaining that it was a ‘mark of protest’ against social media declaring Rhea guilty even before the court’s judgement.
“I said that actually as a form of protest. I truly believe that you are innocent until proven guilty. The guilt of any crime can only be proved by institutions which have been formed by the Constitution – law enforcement agencies and really speaking, the court of law. You and I cannot decide anybody’s criminality. It is wrong. I saw judgments being pronounced on her.”
Nikhil further went on, elaborating on how there are two sides to the story – “See, I don’t know Rhea. I have never even met her. But I feel that you and I cannot pronounce anyone guilty. It was a mark of protest because everyone was saying that she is guilty and no one should ever work with her. I mean, people were saying, ‘Why did someone take her interview?’ How silly can you get? Are you trying to say she cannot give interviews?”
He even drew parallel with Osama Bin Laden to make his point, “Journalists have reached Osama bin Laden to take his interviews and I see nothing wrong with it. That is what journalists are meant to do. For God’s sake, decades ago, there was a cover story and interview of Dawood Ibrahim in a magazine. Is that wrong?,” he asked.
“Rhea has not even been pronounced guilty in the court of law. The problem is everybody else, other than the courts, has pronounced her guilty. And then, they are telling us what to do and what not, which is the problem that I have. Nobody can tell me what to do, I have the freedom to do whatever I want. We live in a democracy,” he added.
He concluded by saying that his tweet was not a fancy statement, and if Rhea ended up being proven guilty, he would indeed not work with her.
“I have a problem with not following the system and not respecting it. Of course, you can find flaws in it. But having said that, this is not the solution. You need to find judicial reforms, you and I cannot start pronouncing judgments. For me, it was a mark of protest and not an attempt to make some fancy statement. For all I know, tomorrow, the court may pronounce Rhea guilty. Then, I would not like to work with her. But until such time, I think what we are doing to any individual is wrong.”
Rhea Chakraborty who had been arrested by the NCB in the drug angle of SSR Case was granted bail last month.
