Rhea Chakraborty was once a rising star in Bollywood and found herself in the center of national headlines in 2020 after the demise of her boyfriend, Sushant Singh Rajput. A whirlwind of legal battles, media trials and intense public trials followed. Rhea was accused of Sushant’s demise by his family. At the same time, she, along with her younger brother, Showik Chakraborty, was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in connection with a dr**gs case linked to Sushant’s demise. The incident left a deep impact on a 28-year-old, Rhea Chakraborty’s personal life and brought her professional life to a standstill. In a recent interview, she shared how she and her brother used the experience to start their new brand.
Rhea Chakraborty reveals she stopped getting work after the ‘tragedy’ of 2020 in her life
Rhea Chakraborty has often shared how she and her family went through a difficult time in 2020 and subsequent years. After years of challenges, they are finally healing from the traumatic past, and the actress is trying to find her ground again in showbiz. At the same time, she has launched her clothing brand, Chapter 2 in Mumbai. Rhea recently sat down for an interview with CNBC TV18 and opened up about how, after the whole media and legal fiasco, she stopped getting acting work, and her brother, who scored 96 percentile in CAT, couldn’t get admission to any college. In her words:
“When we went through the tragedy that we went through, we both lost our careers. I stopped getting any acting work, and Showik had got 96 percentile in CAT, but that’s the same time that he got arrested. When he came back out, the first trimester was already lost and so was his MBA career and his future planning.”
Rhea added that even if her brother, Showik, could have secured admission, getting a job in the corporate world was difficult. No company would have preferred to entangle themselves with someone who was in the middle of an extreme media scandal. Since they were not able to figure out how to further their career, they came up with the idea to start their brand, which is now valued at Rs. 38 to Rs. 40 crore. She said:
“For a while, we weren’t sure where our lives were going to go. Like, what’s next? We had our healing process,” she said in the same interview while talking about the creation of her clothing brand, Chapter 2 Drip.”
Rhea Chakraborty got instant funding for her label, Chapter 2 from her podcast
Rhea Chakraborty also hosts a podcast, Chapter 2, where two figures from India’s retail domain, Ashni Biyani and Kishore Biyani, arrived as guests. They got intrigued about the actress’s plan behind her clothing and instantly offered her funding for the show. The Jalebi actress explained that more than clothes, her brand aims to communicate with people and represents people who have overcome failures.
Rhea mentioned that they were looking to raise Rs. 1 crore since they were already doing Rs. 50 lakh monthly. Consequently, the investors agreed to give 10% pre-money. Rhea shared the good news by taking to her Instagram handle to write:
“We pitched. No filters, no guarantees. Just belief, bruises, and a big idea. They said yes. Chapter 2 begins. Built on breakdowns, breakthroughs, and blind faith. This is not just a brand. It’s our second chance — and we’re taking it personally. My co-founder-showikk.”
What do you think about Rhea Chakraborty’s reason behind starting her fashion label, Chapter 2?
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