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A14 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 8 OcTOber 2020

Bollywood actress at the center of media frenzy granted bail

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associ- said her arrest was "totally doctors examining Rajput's
ated Press unwarranted and beyond autopsy reports at the All
NEW DELHI (AP) — A Bolly- the reach of law." India Institute of Medical
wood actress who was ar- Chakraborty's brother, who Sciences, a leading public
rested by India's narcotics was arrested in the same hospital in New Delhi, sub-
agency, setting off a me- case and has also denied mitted a report to the Cen-
dia frenzy that has gripped the charges, however, re- tral Bureau of Investigation
the nation, walked out of mains in custody. that ruled out murder as a
jail on Wednesday after Rajput's suspected suicide cause of the actor's death.
being granted bail. in June initially triggered Rajput, 34, was found dead
Rhea Chakraborty was re- a debate over mental in his Mumbai apartment
leased from Bycula District health. But his family dis- on June 14. Police listed the
Prison in Mumbai a month puted Indian media re- cause of death as asphyxia
after being arrested for al- ports that he suffered from by hanging and said he
legedly buying drugs for her mental illness and lodged a appeared to have taken
boyfriend, popular movie police complaint accusing his own life. The case is still
actor Sushant Singh Rajput, Chakraborty of abetment being investigated.
who was found dead in a of suicide. She has denied Rajput, an engineering stu-
suspected suicide in June. the allegation. Many Indian dent who grew up in Bihar,
India's freewheeling TV television news channels India's poorest state, was
news channels speculated then declared Chakraborty the quintessential outsider
that Chakraborty drove him guilty of Rajput's death and who managed to open
to take his life and was part claimed she had over- the doors of Bollywood
of a drug-dealing mafia in dosed him on drugs. The TV and craft a brief but suc-
Bollywood, India's Mumbai- channels have since spent cessful acting career. After
based film industry. months obsessing over the Chakraborty's arrest in Sep-
The court in Mumbai on case, at the expense of tember, the federal narcot-
Wednesday said the ac- other issues such as India's ics agency also questioned
tress was not part of any Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty walks out of the Narcotics stalling economy, the gov- other actresses in a parallel
drug syndicate and had Control Bureau (NCB) office to be taken for a medical check, in ernment's virus response investigation into claims of
no criminal record. It said Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. Associated Press. and growing hostilities with widespread drug use and
Chakraborty could not China over a border dis- trafficking in Bollywood.
have financed or support- as alleged by the narcotics The 28-year-old actress' pute. No date has been set for
ed illegal drug trafficking agency. lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, Earlier this week, a panel of Chakraborty's trial.q

Review: A terrific debut in 'The Forty-Year-Old Version'

cesses don't live up to She's getting anxious and self and her voice. Blank is
your assumed potential. desperate to make a mark an excellent, empathetic
And placement on one and the somewhat recent and hilarious lead and she's
of those 30-Under-30 lists is death of her artist mother surrounded herself with
just a cruel public reminder has made getting motivat- an ace supporting cast,
what (probably) should've ed even more difficult. including Kim, Birney and
been — especially if you The play that she's working Oswin Benjamin as a big-
are nearing the end of on is about a Black couple hearted music producer.
your third decade without living in a gentrified Harlem. At its heart, "The Forty-Year-
much to show for it. This is The local Black theater Old Version" is a wry com-
the situation a New York company won't make it, mentary about who gets to
playwright finds herself in so she pressures her agent make art and which voices
in " The Forty-Year-Old Ver- and friend Archie (Peter Y. we celebrate, although
sion," a quick-witted and Kim) to look for other op- you don't exactly need a
lively debut from writer, di- tions. It lands her an audi- study to tell you that Black
rector, producer and star ence with a respected pro- women are some of the
Radha Blank. It won her a ducer J. Whitman (Reed least represented voices in
This image released by Netflix shows Radha Blank in a scene directing award at the Sun- Birney), who has the money filmmaking. This is exactly
from "The Forty-Year-Old Version." Associated Press. dance Film Festival and is and the connections but why Blank chose the title
coming to the masses Fri- also only seems to produce she did. q
By LINDSEY BAHR Precociousness can be day via Netflix. Blank plays Black "poverty porn" plays
AP Film Writer a curse if adulthood suc- a semi-fictionalized version for white audiences. Solution Sudoku
of herself in this beautifully, Her conflict over whether to
classically New York film, make an inauthentic play
which is shot in crisp black the way Whitman would
and white. The 30-Under-30 want (more white people,
playwriting award sits in her more about gentrification,
small Harlem apartment more Black stereotypes) or
taunting her as she goes to use her voice elsewhere
through the motions of her (she tries rapping about her
life teaching drama to row- life) propels the film. The
dy high schoolers and toil- journey is filled with funny
ing away at projects that and cringey moments as
she knows won't get made. she attempts to find her- Puzzle on Page 13