Bollywood in its worst phase

With actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death apparently opening a Pandora's box for Bollywood -- from nepotism to drugs scandal, a popular actress has come out in support of the Hindi film industry.

Tamannaah Bhatia says that Bollywood is currently going through its worst phase. However, she is optimistic that this phase too shall pass, reports UNB.

“I think this is the worst phase that the film industry is going through. It’s wrong and unfair to blame the film industry for anything and everything. Because we’re always in the limelight and speaking about it just becomes easy to make statements about it. There are good and bad everywhere, "Tamannaah said in an interview with the local media.

In fact, the death of Sushant Singh -- whose body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his Mumbai flat on June 14 -- again brought to fore the old Bollywood nepotism conspiracy theory.

From superstar Salman Khan to filmmaker Karan Johar, a number of Bollywood celebrities had to bear the brunt of the nepotism charges.

However, Tamannaah feels that hard work is all one needs to survive in Bollywood. "If you’re dedicated, hardworking, and talented, you’ll survive. Good efforts count,” she said, brushing aside the nepotism allegations.

Post-Sushant Singh's death, the drugs scandal also engulfed Bollywood, forcing the Narcotics Control Bureau to step in. Sushant Singh's actor-girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik were the first to get arrested for allegedly procuring banned substances for the late star. Both Rhea and Showik are currently out on bail.

Immediately after the arrest of Rhea, the names of at least 20 top Bollywood celebrities — from actors to filmmakers to designers — surfaced in the drugs case. Several of them, including leading female Bollywood actors —  Rakul Preet Singh,  Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, and Shraddha Kapoor — were subsequently grilled by NCB.

The grilling came in the wake of WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea's mobile phone indicating that all of them had procured banned substances like cannabis, weed, and hash from dealers with links to foreign countries. All the actors, however, reportedly denied any links with such drug dealers.

Tamannaah made her acting debut at the age of 15 in the Bollywood film 'Chand Sa Roshan Chehra'.  She has acted in nearly 65 films in three languages, including blockbusters like  Himmatwala (2013) and Entertainment (2014).  In addition to acting, the 31-year-old also participates in stage shows and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products.