Sandhya Mridul: Insider vs outsider was supposed to be a debate, not an ugly witch hunting battle

Sushant Singh Rajput’s sudden demise has not only left behind several unanswered questions but also stirred up debates about how Bollywood functions. While Sandhya Mridul is all for the relevant discussions that have followed, she rues how they have started to take an ugly turn.

“Sushant left behind a very important debate, and I believe that everything should be a discussion, and not mentally abusive to anybody right now. This whole insider vs outsider was not supposed to be an ugly witch hunting battle. It was supposed to be debate, a conversation,” she says.

Mridul, however, doesn’t deny the problems that exist in the film industry about prejudices, something which she herself has faced. 

“I’m not saying that it didn’t happen to me or I didn’t have the guts to say it. I agree in this industry, there were a few actors about whom a whole narrative was created because we pissed off somebody important, there’s no denying that. But to sit and continuously abuse, is also not right. It’s not the energy that we need to create,” she says.

The 45-year-old, who is vocal about a lot of things, points out that there’s a way of doing this. “I’ve always said what I had to say but the point is we need to give the system a chance because I think it’s changing. Yet, don’t take sh*t but try and do good work,” she explains.

Despite all the negativity around, Mridul refuses to give up optimism about the entertainment industry, and she insists to do that, everyone has to stop pulling down one another.

“I know good work will come. If it doesn’t, then you speak about it. Yes, we all feel angry and we’ve all lost out on opportunities, so it’s about changing the system and not bringing down someone. But, there are different ways to do that,” she shares.

The actor, who was last seen in the web series Mentalhood, also feels that things have, in fact, turned much better for talents in the industry than how it was two decades ago.

“Today, actors are very fortunate. This is a battle that we’ve fought in the last decade. It was far more then than it is now. But, things are open now because of social media, as everybody has a voice. Earlier, some of us weren’t big enough to have voices. If one doesn’t promote you, you can promote yourself. I’m not saying you should not be angry, but use it properly. Fight the fight, but fairly,” she concludes.