With discussion around bullying by the 'entitled' gaining heft, Dabangg director Abhinav Kashyap on how Salman Khan's powerful brothers put their might to destroy his career, producers refused to comment for now.
Salman Khan
Abhinav Singh Kashyap, who had helmed the 2010 Salman Khan blockbuster Dabangg, says all his projects were sabotaged by the superstar's family. Following the recent demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, the director took to Facebook to post a long note, appealing to the government to launch a detailed investigation into the actor's death.
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"The suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput brings to the forefront a bigger problem of what many of us have been dealing with [and] what might compel a person to commit suicide," wrote Kashyap, adding that Rajput's death will bring Yash Raj Films [YRF] talent management under the scanner. "[The agency] might have played [a role] in pushing him towards his suicide, but that is for the authorities to investigate. These people don't make careers. They ruin your career and life."
Having himself suffered for a decade, he said he could confidently call a talent management company a "potential death trap for artistes".
Abhinav Kashyap
Talking about his own experience, he said, "I have experienced bullying first-hand. The reason I moved out of making Dabangg 2 10 years ago is because Arbaaz Khan, in collusion with Sohail Khan and family, was trying to take control of my career by bullying me. Arbaaz Khan sabotaged my second project with Shree Ashtavinayak Films by [calling] their head, Mr Raj Mehta, and threatening him with dire consequences if they made a film with me. I had to return the signing money to them and move to Viacom Pictures. They did the same thing again."
Having found support in Reliance Entertainment, he made Besharam. "Salman Khan and family sabotaged the release of the film and got their PROs to run a sustained negative smear campaign against me and my film before release. This [prevented] the distributors from buying my film," he further wrote, also highlighting that after the film garnered a mixed response at the box-office, Khan's family "fought on".
"They sabotaged the satellite release that was pre-sold to Mr Jayanti Lal Gada. With Reliance's goodwill, they were able to re-negotiate the satellite rights sale with Gada for a much lesser price," he added.
Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan
Over the next few years, "all my projects and creative endeavours have been sabotaged and I have been repeatedly threatened with life and rape threats given to/for the female members of my family. The sustained gas-lighting and bullying destroyed my mental health, and that of my family too. It led to my divorce in 2017."
Referring to them as his "sharp, cunning" enemies, he says he wouldn't "give up" like Rajput did, and continue to wage his war. "Sushant Singh Rajput has moved on, and I hope he is happier, wherever he is. But I will make sure that no more innocent kills himself over lack of work with dignity, in Bollywood."
Mid-day reached out to then Viacom CEO Vikram Malhotra, the Khans, and Gada to corroborate the claims, but our texts and calls went unanswered.
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