Television actor Aditya Singh Rajput has allegedly ended his life. The cause for death is allegedly an overdose of drugs. But suicide cannot be ruled out.
If suicide, this is the latest in a spate of suicides that have rocked the television industry.Another television actor Akshat Utkarsh committed suicide in 2020. Prior to him actor Sameer Sharma’s allegedly ended his own life.Suicide cases are on the rise in the entertainment industry. This is the latest in an alarming string of suicides of financially-emotionally depressed individuals in the Indian television industry.
One million people die by suicide every year. In 2020 post the pandemic the number rose to 1.5 million. The reasons range from poverty , bullying, shaming, to impulsiveness due to substance abuse, to marital discord to debt to traumatic stress caused by various types of failure , to feeble and fragile mental health.
During the pandemic more than 50% television production houses stalled work .But the most badly hit were the actors. Covid made them lose hope as they would go for auditions with the hope and intention of getting work. Television actors and technicians were starving.
One of television industry’s most successful actors Gurmeet Choudhary recommends mental and physical health precautions for television actors. “Everybody is dedicating time towards being physically fit but what about being mentally fit ? I feel all should strengthen themselves mentally to avoid such drastic steps such as suicide and this can be done only through modes of emotional support and positive thinking.”
What according to Gurmeet, is the way out to avoid loneliness during these troubled times? “Speaking out to your close ones, even if it is over the phone is the right way to relieve stress and further amplify the same relief by meditation. A strong mind is a healthy mind. If you feel there is someone who needs help, whom you can reach out to, then do not hesitate. Your time can help save someone from drowning so go ahead and throw that life jacket to those out there by telling them that you are there for them. What we are lacking in tackling in our society is the stigma that surrounds mental health and that needs to go, not later but from this moment.”
Television actress Pratyusha Banerjee ended her life in 2016. At 25 Pratyusha Banerjee was only starting out in life. When this writer first got to know her she was barely out of her teens, a starry-eyed girl from Jharkhand who couldn’t contain her excitement about being selected to play Anandi in the very popular series Balika Badhu.
Pratyusha was filled with dreams. “You mark my words.I am going to make Bihar and Jharkhand proud,” she said with a confidence that belied her tender years.
From Jamshedpur to Mumbai, Pratyusha was proud of what she had achieved. “From Balika Badhu to Bigg Boss is a big leap, I agree.I know I was in the news(for speaking up against an allegedly abusive ex-boyfriend). But I didn’t create that controversy just to be in the news when I go into Bigg Boss.These things just happen. The timing was unfortunate. But I am the last person to create a controversy.If I wanted to plan something to be in the news then I’d have made the controversy much bigger.”
In death she became more controversial than she could ever be in life.