For Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty, some wounds have refused to fade. The period that followed late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death still casts a long shadow over her. Appearing on Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi's YouTube chat show ‘Double Date’ alongside her brother Showik Chakraborty, Rhea spoke more openly than ever about the fear, stress and mental strain of that time.
In 2020, when a drugs angle surfaced during the investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput's death, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested both Rhea and Showik. The case gripped the entire nation, and the siblings had to weather intense criticism and hardship.
A Trauma That Still Lingers
When asked on the show whether she had fully moved past the trauma, Rhea was candid. She said experiences like these never truly end. Trauma, she explained, does not stay confined to the mind, it leaves its marks on the body and the emotions too. With the help of therapy, she said, she is trying to steady herself and move forward, but completely forgetting that pain is not easy.
Rhea shared one detail that lays bare the fear she still carries. Even today, she said, if the doorbell rings, the old days come flooding back. At that time the atmosphere was such that every small sound felt like a threat.
Showik's Shattered Dreams and PTSD
Showik revealed that his life had been on an entirely different track before the episode. His dream was to study at a top business school like IIM or Wharton, but everything changed in an instant. Life, he said, took a turn he had never even imagined.
According to Showik, it took him nearly four to five years to climb out of that dark phase. Even now he often revisits those events and wonders why it all happened to him. He also admitted that he lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that little things, like the ring of the house doorbell, instantly drag him back to those old days.
The Hardest Part: It All Happened in Public
Rhea added that the experience was made even harder because it all unfolded in full public view. The eyes of the entire country and the media were fixed on her, and everyone was forming their own opinion about her. Despite all of this, Rhea and Showik slowly pulled themselves together and found the courage to move ahead in life. The ‘Double Date’ show streams on YouTube.
