In a candid moment, Rhea Chakraborty has let us in on a bit of unspoken solidarity: she was in touch with Aryan Khan when his drug case was in full swing. She put it down to a painful sense of déjà vu, one that made her think of her own run-ins with the authorities and a stint in jail. It is a story that is having some people in Bollywood rethinking what empathy looks like these days.
Why she made the call to Aryan Khan
When the headlines about Shah Rukh’s son were all over the place, Rhea was the one to get in touch. For her, it was hard not to see the same pattern her family had to put up with, Showik in particular.
“It was so much like what I’ve been through,” she told an interviewer. “More than my own story, it was like Showik’s. They are alike in that way. I found it very difficult to be a spectator.”
She has also been wary of the media’s take on things. “I have held my tongue more often than not, and I still do.”
The ones who had her back
When the world was loud, her close friends were louder in their support. Rhea remembers them being there for her even when it wasn’t the popular thing to do. “You had your Shibani, Nidhi, Anisha, Samisha and Anusha,” she says of the group of girls who didn’t let the trolling or the missed chances get in the way.
Her parents had some allies as well. “Saqib was a lot for my parents when Showik and I were behind bars,” she recalls, and Huma Qureshi was right there too. “One good friend is all you need to make it through.”
To sum up where she stands:
– She was in direct contact with Aryan
– She could see the same story with Showik
– Some of her friends put up with a lot to be there for her
– Saqib and Huma were there for her folks
2020 and its after-effects
The memories Rhea is talking about go back to a rough patch. Back in September 2020, the NCB had her in custody after they came across some WhatsApp messages with people they said were dealing. She was bailed out of course, but for a while, she couldn’t just go where she wanted.
Jail, she says, is a humbling place. “You are a number, not a person,” is how she puts it. The not knowing if you’re going to be free is something that can really eat at you.
She won’t mince words about the toll it took: the anger, the tears, the PTSD. “I was in a headspace of being a victim for a long time. Some of that is still with me.”
Putting her career back together
Rhea has been working on a return. You’ve seen her on MTV Roadies: Double Cross, and she’s got some new work in the pipeline, not to mention her line, Chapter 2. In six years since the Sushant Singh Rajput case, she is set to be in a Netflix series that she thinks will be a change of pace.
But don’t expect to be chummy. “If you spot me out and about, just walk on by. Don’t ask me anything. Pretend I’m not there.”
What makes this stand out
Aryan’s situation, like hers, had the internet in two camps. But in reaching out to him, Rhea has put a different spin on it. There is a lot of quiet in this town when the going gets tough. Her willingness to talk and to be there for someone else is a response you don’t see every day, and it comes from a place of experience, not for the cameras.
