RITU JHA
A second billboard for Sushant Singh Rajput and a GoFundme page are among the latest efforts of the fans of the late Bollywood star to keep up the momentum on the demand for a probe into his death.
The second billboard, which went up August 14, is on Laurelwood Road in Santa Clara, California, which has a sizable presence of the Indian-American community. indica News had reported about the first billboard, which was put up in Milpitas.
The Santa Clara billboard also shows a smiling Sushant and the message says: “#Justice For Sushant Singh Rajput. 1986-2020.”
Sushant’s family and fans are not ready to accept the initial police report that said Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide in Mumbai June 14 this year. They believe it was a huge conspiracy.
“The billboard is a constant reminder of the injustice,” Lovely Upadhyay, who said she was the main person behind putting up the billboards in California, told indica News.
Upadhyay, who is a fourth-stage cancer survivor, told indica News that if they raise enough money they would put up a billboard in Hollywood as well.
Asked is she was a friend of Sushant’s sister Shweta Singh Kirti, Upadhyay replied in the negative. “I just feel that when going through some difficulty we must have the empathy to understand other people’s pain,” she said.
“The billboard… it is also for people to remember that every incident cannot be lost in oblivion just by shifting the headline from page 1 to page 3.”
She insinuated Sushant was killed.
“If people would have been able to make him a partner in crime, he would be alive today but he took a stand,” Upadhyay said. “I feel this should be the last time when rich and powerful feel so entitled that they will not be held accountable for their actions.”
Upadhyay, who is from Bihar like Sushant, said he died because he wanted to see the murderers of Disha Salian behind bars.
“My mom says, no matter what you do nothing will happen. I feel so sad at the level of hopelessness she has lived with all her life,” she said. “I don’t want to lose hope. Every day people tell me nothing will come out of this. I don’t want to believe that. SSR was a metaphor for so many kids who dream to make it big in Bollywood.”
Another Bay Area-based supporter of Sushant Singh Rajput, is Varun Kapur, told indica News: “We want justice and peace for Sushant’s family.”
“He was not my brother, or even related to me at all, rather I had seen a few of his movies and missed on few due to multiple reasons, but still, I was affected by his death just like millions of people around the world have been,” said Varun, who is a friend of Shweta Singh Kirti, and calls her a down to earth person.
“With my little social media presence, I have been trying to fight this battle to get #JusticeForSSR. Through my radio show,” said Varun.
Varuns’s radio handle goes by the name RJ Varoon and his show is The Varun Kapur Show on Radio Mirchi 1310 AM, said, “With the specific page that I have created for this fight, Bayareaforssr, we have been able to get a lot of Sushant fans and followers together (~14k+ and growing) to continue sharing information and asking people to join hands so that we can help Sushant’s Family in any way possible. We will continue this till the time the culprits are caught and justice is served.”
