As Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s ashes got immersed in a holy Indian river on June 18 by his family members as per Hindu rituals, a drama of a different kind unfolded in his native town in Patna and in the world of Bollywood, reported Gulf News.

Rajput’s death has re-ignited debates on nepotism, the importance of mental health among public figures and the brutality in Bollywood towards aspiring actors. Rajput’s unexpected death at 34 is yet to be processed by his adoring fans, who are desperately seeking closure.

Rajput, who was found dead at his home in Mumbai on June 14, left behind an army of grieving fans and galvanised a movement of sorts to address the dark secrets of Bollywood.

Protests staged in Patna

Disillusioned fans of Rajput took to the streets in his hometown to protest against nepotism in Bollywood and burnt effigies of major stars like director-producer Karan Johar and superstar Salman Khan, who they believe sabotaged Rajput’s rising career.

A call to boycott their films is also being made.

Apart from sloganeering against power-brokers in Bollywood who encourage favouritism and hostility towards certain outsiders, these actors and directors have also been facing their online wrath.

Karan Johar hits back

Rajput, whose last film was the underwhelming thriller ‘Drive’ on Netflix, allegedly lost six movie projects that he had signed after his 2019 film ‘Chhichhore’. The word on the street is that he rubbed some powerful people in Bollywood the wrong way and had earned their wrath.

Johar, who has more than 1 million followers on Twitter, hit back at his haters by going on an unfollowing spree. Johar, who has 1.7 million twitter followers, is now only following a clutch of eight Twitter handles. Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar have made the cut.

Rajput's rumoured girlfriend records statement

His alleged girlfriend and co-star for one of his future projects Rhea Chakraborty arrived at the Bandra police station on Thursday morning to record her statements with the officials. Although no suicide note was found, the police have opened a detailed investigation into the star’s suicide.