It is hard to say which is sadder, the death by suicide of a young, intelligent artiste with a lot of untapped promise or the sight of a host of vested interests jumping with alacrity on to the dead man's chest to grind their own axes.
While we may never know what prompted Sushant Singh Rajput to end his own life, as he does not seem to have left any note behind or spoken to any near and dear ones, it would be fair to assume that he must have been engulfed by a feeling of despair and could see no point in going on.
But even before the post-mortem examination was conducted and the last rites were carried out, all manner of speculation about everything from his personal habits to his professional woes was being floated, and there may well be more to come.
Everyone and their uncle seems to have a theory about what went wrong for the young man, ranging from an allegedly debauched lifestyle to a supposed career dead-end and even gangland 'murders made to look like suicides'. Some of these theorists express faux concern, others can barely disguise their glee.
The media, social as well as usual, are having a field day because, after all, the more the controversy, the more the likes and shares, and the more the traffic/eyeballs the more... you get the picture. Some channels, in the pursuit of ratings, have even refused to allow his family to grieve in peace.
It's a good thing the dead man in whose name so many breasts are being beaten and heads thumped can't see the circus.