Chehre producer on Rhea Chakraborty's absence from promotions: 'I cannot promote my smaller artistes'

Chehre would mark Rhea Chakraborty's return to the big screen after Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely death and abetment to suicide allegations against her. Rhea was missing from the poster and teaser before she was seen in the trailer.

While the producer, Anand Pandit, had previously said that he was not going to address Rhea's absence until the right time arrives, he has now said that the movie's promotions are focusing on Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi, as they are the lead stars.

"Tell me, whose film is it? It’s Mr Bachchan and Emraan’s film. So, my focus has to be on them. Then there are other artistes. My focus cannot be on the other artistes. My focus has to be on my lead actors. That’s one. So, I cannot promote my smaller artistes,” he told Indianexpress.com. On being asked why other actors like Krystle D’Souza and Raghubir Yadav are being promoted, the producer said that the focus on Krystle is because she “plays Emraan’s love interest in the film".

Anand then addressed Rhea's absence specifically and said that the decision to keep her away from the spotlight was because the media attention could impact her and not because he feared 'any backlash'. “A lot of issues have happened in Rhea’s life over the last one year. I never wanted to give another turmoil to her… till the time she is not comfortable (promoting the film). For my project or benefit, I don’t want to create ripples in somebody’s life," he said.

He added that he did not want Rhea's role to be compromised due to the turn of events last year. "There was no question of replacing her or shortening her role. But we decided that we will bring her (in public) at an appropriate time, whenever she is comfortable. I asked her if this was okay with her. Our conscience was pure. I was not fearing any backlash,” he added.

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Rhea was last seen in Jalebi, which released in 2018, and was backed by Mahesh Bhatt. She confirmed that she was a part of Chehre on social media. The actor was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and Narcotics Control Bureau in connection with Sushant's death and also served a month in jail on drug-related charges, before being released on bail.