Sushant Singh Rajput death: Deepika Padukone, Anupam Kher stress need to reach out for help

The circumstances surrounding the death by suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput have opened up a discussion on mental health in the Hindi film industry. With the countrywide coronavirus lockdown and the resultant lack of work, the industry is seeing many members struggle with mental well-being.

Rajput's death has led many to take to social media and talk about the need to reach out and share one's problems.

Actress Deepika Padukone, who heads the Live Love Laugh Foundation that deals with mental well-being, wrote about the need to share. "As a person who has had a lived experience with mental illness, I cannot stress enough about the importance of reaching out. Talk. Communicate. Express. Seek help. Remember, you are not alone. We are in this together. And most importantly, there is Hope."

Some have speculated that Rajput was going through depression and struggling to cope with it.

Actor Amit Sadh, who co-starred with Rajput in his debut film Kai Po Che! (2013), also wrote that he will "regret not reaching out" and helping his friend.

While there have been many such conciliatory messages, actor Sikandar Kher said that sometimes it is not easy for people to reach out for help. Describing his own struggle with loneliness, Kher said, "Some people can't find anyone to talk to. They are helpless. And this is what it has probably driven him to. Some people are not as blessed. They are not you. Let them do what they are doing. They are not harming you. Stop talking about people behind their back if you have nothing good to say. This is a bloody cruel industry, man! You need to be strong, it is damn tough. He must have been alone."

Sikandar's father Anupam Kher, who starred alongside Rajput in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), said he felt the loss "on his soul''. Saying that he was struggling to come to terms with the reasons for Rajput's death, Kher Sr urged people to step out and seek help when they feel alone. "I have felt that when you are in that sense of loneliness, money does not matter. Fame does not matter. All you need is someone to tell you that it is okay," he said.