Rhea Chakraborty spoke on tough time after Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
The year 2020 was a difficult period for actor Rhea Chakraborty. She was arrested by the NCB for alleged drug links following the death of Sushant Singh Rajput. His family levelled several allegations against her, including abetment, theft and financial fraud. However, in 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cleared her of all charges in its closure report. During this challenging phase, it was Rhea’s close-knit group of girlfriends — most prominently Farhan Akhtar’s wife and actor Shibani Dandekar — who stood by her and openly rooted for her.
Recently, Rhea shared a promotional clip from the season finale of her podcast Chapter 2, in which she sat down with Shibani and other friends who supported her through that turbulent time. The clip begins with Anusha Dandekar, Shibani’s sister, breaking down in tears, with Rhea also getting emotional and comforting her. She says, “If she will cry then I will cry.”
This is followed by Rhea opening up emotionally, saying, “The year 2020 was a difficult time of my life. As my dad says, if it weren’t for these women, we would have never survived. Now we don’t need a temple in the house, we need a picture of these women.”
Another close friend of Rhea, fashion stylist Anisha Jain, admitted, “2020 was a lot and we did what we had to. I don’t know where that courage came from.”
Rhea’s friend Samiksha Shetty also recalled a surprising moment when Rhea once approached her with an unexpected suggestion. “She just came to me one day and said ‘we have to do this one thing’ and I thought she wants to get her nails done, but she said, ‘Let’s go freeze our eggs’.”
Rhea Chakraborty spent 28 days in jail in 2020 following her arrest and was later granted bail by the Bombay High Court. Since then, she has appeared on the reality show MTV Roadies and has also built her apparel brand Chapter 2, along with launching her podcast of the same name.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
