Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has requested fans as well as media, to not portray every film personality in the same light while addressing the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the subsequent drug abuse probe in the film industry.
In a nearly 4 minute video, the 53 year-old actor has said that just like every industry, drug abuse also exists in the film industry but one should not assume that every person in the profession is a part of it.
Actor Kumar said, ”Today, I’m talking to you with a heavy heart. I want to say so many things in the past few weeks but there is so much negativity everywhere,” he said.
“We may be called stars, but Bollywood has been created because of your love. We are not just an industry, but through our films we have showcased Indian values and culture throughout the world,”he added.
Actor-producer Akshay Kumar in the video also said that cinema reflects the society and picks up relevant issues like “corruption, poverty or unemployment” and would continue to do so.
Akshay Kumar said that the death of Sushant Singh Rajput has pushed people in the industry to “introspect”.
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has questioned actress Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh in the drug abuse case.
The NCB has also questioned talent manager, Jaya Saha, Rajput’s manager and Karishma Prakash, Padukone’s manager and several others.
He said that though he could not deny that some people in the business may be involved with illegal things but most people will cooperate with the investigation.
The actor said, ”I’ll be a liar if I say that this problem does not exist in our industry. It exists, just like every industry. But every person in every profession is not involved in such problems. This is impossible.”
“Drugs is a legal matter and I’m totally confident that our law enforcement authorities and courts will conduct a fair investigation into this issue. I know this for a fact that every person from the film industry will cooperate with them in this investigation. It is my request, don’t look at the whole industry with same lens. This is not right,” he added.
Akshay Kumar has also requested the media to be sensitive and responsible in its coverage of the case as even a single “negative issue” can harm an artist’s reputation.
He said, “I want to request the media that they continue doing their jobs and raising their voices but with sensitivity. One piece of negative issue can damage a person’s reputation that they built over the years after a lot of hard work.”
NCB has arrested Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty and 12 others in the drug case in Sushant Singh Rajput’s case who was found hanging at his home June 14.