Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely demise after suicide has shocked the Bollywood industry. While some are sending condolense to the late actor's family, some seem to be revealing hurtful truth about the film industry. Now, Saif Ali Khan has spoke about Sushant, the industry, his daughter Sara Ali Khan's reaction and more. 

"Such terrible news about Sushant, such terrible news! It's just awful," said Saif. "There are so many people who've made comments so quickly. And it just seems to me that people are somewhere gaining some mileage from this poor fellow's tragedy, you know, whether it's to show compassion or to show interest or to show some political stance. So many people are talking rubbish in this nonstop kind of barrage on social media and it's just embarrassing, really, I think."

"Out of respect for him, for Sushant's tragedy, maybe a day of silence or introspection would be a little more becoming than this outpouring of love – an outpouring of love from people who obviously didn't care about him and people who famously don't care about anybody else."

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"Yes! I mean, we don't care about anybody. You know, it's a very cutthroat line of work. But to pretend that you do care is like the ultimate hypocrisy and I think that's an insult to the dead, you know, it's an insult to the soul that's gone. I think the least we can do is just have some introspection, you know, maybe some silence - not try and come across as, you know, the most politically astute or the kindest or the wisest or something or the other? Some angles have spun off in all directions, you know? And I think that's just really, really sad."

When asked if actually means all of it, he said, "Yeah, that's the point I'm making - that nobody really cares in this town. So to pretend they really care is, you know, it's a little much for me, it's a little much to digest… like, you know, they're really coming across as the most 'feeling' people because they want their fans to think that they're the most, feeling people - but that's just untrue! Just for Sushant's memory, there should be some dignity. If nothing else, you should just create some silence. I don't think this is the time to comment. And let's just respect that moment by keeping quiet, not by saying how much you cared about him, or didn't care about him, because, obviously, none of that mattered to him. So what's the point of saying all of it now? This is the thing. We live in an age where people write 10 lines for you on Twitter and will walk past you on the street - won't even touch you or shake your hand. You know, you get wished for your birthday, but people don't actually call you. There's no contact."

About his take on the view that Sushant was failed by some heavyweights in the industry, he said, "I don't really agree with that also. People are failing people constantly. Everyone talking about him, even those saying who failed you or didn't fail you is, I think, somewhat exploiting his name. To take any stand at the moment, apart from just sorrow, and just saying that I'm really sad that he had no way out except this - any other comment is somewhere manipulating the situation, I feel. You have come across this as an opportunity to take a shot at somebody, and you're taking a shot."

When asked if agrees about cine lobbies isolating, impacting a career, he said, "These are the wrong comments to make now. I mean, you can say, listen, it's just really bad, what happened. It's really sad that this is the only way he could see out. But to blame anybody or to you know, draw these camps out, this is pathetic. I think it's a function of lockdown plus social media. And it's sad that film people can't think beyond films. We will all assume that this terrible thing happened to him because of his films. There is more to life. Maybe he was upset about other things in his life. Maybe it was a personal reason. Maybe it's nothing to do with films. If you can't see beyond that, you will put everything on that – the movies you do."

When asked how his daughter Sara Ali Khan, who made her debut opposite Sushant in Kedarnath, reacted, he said, "I think Sara - I don't know if she wants me to talk about it - was very upset. Very, very, very upset. Shocked and then very upset. She liked him very much. She was quite impressed with certain aspects of his personality. She told me he was very intelligent, that he could discuss, you know, Jean-Paul Sartre and he could discuss various aspects of philosophy and engineering and that he had learned how to shoot with a bow and arrow left handed, and he was very fit as well as very hard-working, and a good actor… She was kind of like very impressed by him on many levels, which is how I came across getting to look at him in a different way. And then when I did this guest appearance, he was really nice to me..."

About his own memoreis with Sushant he said, "I knew him. I shot with him... When Sara described him, she always described him as being a really remarkable person. And I thought if this guy really understands Sartre, the way he says, and he is as intelligent as she's making him out to be, then he's obviously more intelligent than I am."

"I think he had very refined looks. He was a good-looking guy. He was very talented, he was a little edgy… When I met him, I thought he was a little on the edge. And he was a little, I don't know - I think he was looking for something. He was interested in the same things as me in some ways, like he liked astronomy, and he liked, you know, discussing some of this philosophy and talking about some stuff, which, you know, one dabbles in as an amateur. When I did my guest appearance in his 'Dil Bechara', I think he was quite happy with that. He was very nice to me and he said he wanted to come and have a drink and talk about various things, which never happened, which I feel bad about. Maybe I could have, you know, helped in some way or not… I don't know. But after working with him, I quite liked him because he was nice. And then he told me he danced behind me as Shiamak's dancer during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games (in 2006). And so I was congratulating him on how far he'd come, you know? I don't know, I think there must be some kind of a medical reason that people go over the edge. When the outlook is very black, it's also to do with how your chemistry is, in your mind. Maybe medication is required – I don’t know. It just seems that a normal, rational person wouldn't do this. But at that time it seems like that it's a possibility, it's a way out. And that is a very scary situation, which obviously I don't know anything about."

(Source: Bombay Times)