Rhea Chakraborty has said that watching Aryan Khan go through his legal battle in 2021 reminded her of her own experience during the aftermath of Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
The actress recalled how closely Aryan's case mirrored what she and her brother Showik faced. Both cases were investigated by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and drew intense media attention.
Rhea Chakraborty on Aryan Khan's arrest in 2021
Asked whether Aryan's case felt familiar, Rhea told Variety India, "I did. When I saw what Aryan was going through, it took me back because it was spectacularly similar. In fact, more than my story, it looked a lot like Showik's story. They also have a resemblance. It was very, very hard to watch. I did not speak to the media many times, and I still do not."
Rhea also spoke about her time in jail and how it affected her mentally and emotionally. "The hardest part about being in jail is being in jail. Just knowing that you are no longer part of society. You are a number. You are not a person. You are deemed unfit to live in society. You are so bad or so pathetic that you are considered harmful to society."
"That is why you have been put away. It really crushes your ego completely. Your self-esteem, too. You question a lot of things. Being away from family and being so uncertain about your liberty and your freedom is really challenging," added Rhea Chakraborty.
Despite everything she went through, the actress said she never allowed herself to spiral into a victim mentality. "I've obviously been through my share of pain, sadness, anger, tears and anxiety and PTSD... I still go through a lot of it. Now, I am on the other side, and I've actually sort of moved on quite a bit from it. But I believe that's one thing that's private to me because nothing else was private. And I would like to keep it like that. My tears are personal to me and my grief is personal to me. And that's the one thing that I will not allow the media to have," she said.
What happened in the Rhea Chakraborty and Aryan Khan cases, respectively?
Rhea was arrested by the NCB on September 8, 2020, in connection with a drugs-related probe linked to Sushant Singh Rajput's death. She spent 27 days in jail before securing bail from the Bombay High Court in October that year. During the investigation, Rajput's family levelled several allegations against her, including abetment of suicide, theft and financial misconduct.
Nearly five years later, in 2025, the CBI filed its closure report in the case and cleared Rhea of wrongdoing. Since then, she has slowly rebuilt her professional life. She launched her podcast, Chapter 2, centred around resilience, growth and second chances. The venture later expanded into Chapter 2 Drip, a clothing brand she co-founded with Showik. The brand is currently estimated to be worth around Rs 40 crore.
Aryan Khan's case came a little over a year later. He, along with Ayaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha, was arrested by the NCB following a cruise ship raid in October 2021. Aryan spent 25 days in jail before being granted bail. In May 2022, all charges against him were dropped, while former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede was removed from the investigation amid allegations of blackmail.
