Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in Mumbai on June 14. In the initial weeks, news coverage about his death, which the police said was suicide, focused on allegations of nepotism in Bollywood and its impact on “outsiders” like Rajput.
Three months later, television news on Rajput’s death is all about a “Bollywood drug mafia”, Whatsapp chats and actor Deepika Padukone.
On Wednesday, the Narcotics Control Bureau issued summons to Padukone, as well as actors Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and Rakul Preet Singh, to question them about Whatsapp chats from 2017 in which they allegedly discussed the procurement of banned drugs.
Padukone has been at the centre of media and social media reactions to these developments. Actor Kangana Ranaut, for instance, alleged that Padukone’s depression was a result of her alleged drug abuse. Others have…