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Rhea Chakraborty on life after Sushant Singh Rajput death: ‘Dad was fired, brother lost IIM seat
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New DelhiAug 17, 2026 03:54 PM IST Rhea Chakraborty now owns a company worth Rs 40 crore. (Photo: Rhea Chakraborty/Instagram)Actor Rhea Chakraborty has said that she and her father lost their livelihoods, and brother could not join Indian Institute of Management (IIM) despite doing well in the entrance exam, in the aftermath of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death and the intense media scrutiny that followed. Rhea was dating Sushant at the time of his death. She was named as a suspect in his death by various investigating agencies and his family; she was cleared of all charges by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2025. Speaking to Farah Khan on her latest YouTube vlog, Rhea Chakraborty said it felt like the society had cancelled them and their lives came to a standstill. She and her brother were arrested in a drug case related to Rajput’s death, changing their lives forever. Several years later, Rhea and Shovik have rebuilt their lives with Chapter 2, a clothing brand and podcast, which has reportedly done well enough for Rhea to buy a new home.She said, “Shovik and I started Chapter Two Show because he got 97% in CAT. We had all that happen in 2020. The same year, he got 97%, he got arrested along with me. In three months, the first trimester passed. We had paid the fees. He had got into IIM. Then he lost the trimester. All this happened. We came out. Then there was no work.” She explained that after they were released from jail, their lives came to a standstill. “We used to be just sitting at home. In a way, we were cancelled by society. Nobody offered me films. Shovik wasn’t even getting a job. No corporate was willing to take him in.” ’: Pankaj Tripathi’s callout to his wife leaves IFFM audience in splits The impact of Rhea’s involvement in the case extended to her family as well. She said her retired army officer father had to give up a high-paying job after the hospital discovered he was Rhea’s father. She said, “In fact, even papa got a very big job as a medical superintendent in one of the very big hospitals in town, and then they found out his surname and said, ‘Sir, you are Rhea Chakraborty’s father.’ He had to leave that job.”Story continues below this ad After facing several setbacks and remaining jobless for an extended period, the brother-sister duo came up with the idea for Chapter 2. She revealed, “This was when we were like, we have had it enough. We don’t want to depend on people anymore. I want to do something of our own. After a lot of thinking, we came up with the idea of selling apparels. This connects back to the time when I was arrested. Unknowingly, I wore this T-shirt which read: ‘Roses are red, Violets are Blue, Let’s smash the patriarchy me and you.’ It was a T-shirt gifted by an NGO. That T-shirt went viral. It spoke for me when I couldn’t myself. I found this out several months later.” Calling the incident a source of motivation, Rhea said, “So we decided to make more such clothes which can give people a voice. And that’s how Chapter 2 started. It is doing well.” In the aftermath of Rajput’s death, FIRs were filed against Chakraborty and her family on charges of abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation and money laundering by Rajput’s family as well as by investigating agencies. She was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau and spent nearly a month in prison. The NCB accused Chakraborty and her brother of coordinating drug deliveries for the late actor.Story continues below this ad The CBI filed a closure report in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case on March 23, 2025, clearing Rhea and her family from all kind of charges. CBI reportedly concluded that there was no evidence to support allegations of abetment to suicide, illegal confinement or theft. Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence in June 2020.
Lokesh Kanagaraj helmed Vijay's Leo and Rajinikanth's Coolie.Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj has broken his silence on the sustained online trolling campaign he has faced over the past year, admitting that his previous two directorial outings Leo and Coolie fell short while expressing confidence that his next film with Allu Arjun will change the conversation. When a DC co-star asked him how he handles the trolls during a promotional interaction for the film, Lokesh did not get defensive. He laughed and said, “Even my mother sends me screenshots of the trolling. What’s there to get tensed about?”The filmmaker then addressed the root cause directly. “If our work is good, they’ll celebrate us. But if there’s a mistake, we’ll become target of trolls. My previous two films, Leo and Coolie, had some mistakes, and that’s how things turned out. So, they’re trolling me now,” he said. Also Read: Rajinikanth’s Coolie, Vijay’s Leo: The second half problem with the cinema of Lokesh Kanagaraj Lokesh Kanagaraj has rarely acknowledged publicly that Leo and Coolie fell short of expectations. However, despite the disappointment, both films made money at the box office. Leo, starring Vijay, collected Rs 605 crore worldwide, and Coolie, starring Rajinikanth, opened to strong numbers. But neither delivered on the creative promise that Kaithi and Vikram had set. Leo was widely criticised for weak villains, a flat climax and a screenplay that prioritised cameos and universe-building over storytelling. Coolie drew criticism for poor execution and concepts that did not connect with audiences the way Lokesh’s earlier work had. Despite the commercial returns, the creative disappointment triggered a backlash that has been running for months on Tamil social media. Morphed images, satirical memes, WhatsApp stickers and posts mocking Lokesh became a daily feature across platforms. The trolling intensified further after the announcement of AA23, his next directorial with Allu Arjun. A section of Tamil social media users viewed the decision to work with a Telugu star as a betrayal, particularly when Lokesh had repeatedly promised sequels to Kaithi and Vikram as part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. Lokesh Kanagaraj, however, sounded confident about what lies ahead. “I’m doing AA23 with Allu Arjun, and I have confidence in it. When the film releases, the trolls will automatically stop,” he said. Fans believe tha DC, directed by Arun Matheswaran, appears to have given Lokesh breathing room after months of negativity.Story continues below this ad AA23, which marks the first collaboration between Lokesh Kanagaraj and Allu Arjun, is expected to go on floors after Arjun completes his current project with director Atlee. In a separate interview in July, Lokesh Kanagaraj also addressed the LCU question, saying he plans to return to the Kaithi and Vikram sequels after completing AA23, and that the film Benz, currently being produced under his banner, is also part of the LCU. That statement drew mixed reactions, with many pointing out he has made similar promises before only to take on another star-driven project instead.
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