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Rhea Chakraborty has led quite the life. By 33, she’d experienced fame and lost it. But not before paying too hefty a price for it. She lost the love of her life, and before she could even comprehend the loss, she found herself in jail with her younger brother. She was a pawn in a high-stakes game. She had no power, let alone support, and the headlines declared her: Guilty. I don’t know where she found the strength to endure the hellish years from her arrest to her acquittal. There are no traces of bitterness, anger, or even martyrdom. 

It’s impossible to stay normal, given her circumstances. Yet, she displays no signs of past trauma. Perhaps she has dealt with it, perhaps she is putting on a brave face. How is anyone who hasn’t been in a similar situation to judge? Besides, hasn’t she been judged enough? She goes about her life - from launching her unisex streetwear label Chapter 2, to focusing on self-healing. From stepping in front of the camera again to helping others put on their oxygen mask, now that she has hers. With a strong support system of friends and family, she is working toward finding joy in normalcy. 

In an exclusive with Variety India, here’s what else she had to say…   

Starting a Chapter 2 was always the plan, or born out of necessity? 

It definitely was not always the plan. It was born out of necessity. My brother Showik and I both kind of lost out on any work prospects. I stopped getting films, and he got 97% in his CAT exam and made it to one of the top MBA colleges, but he could not go. That was the year we both got arrested. A year later, out of work, seeing our father still go to work, we realized we needed to do something. We are young, we still have to work, we are able-bodied. So we started chatting about what it is that we can do. Because no one would employ us, we had to employ ourselves. When we thought about what we wanted to sell to people, it was clothing.

Did clothing seem like an organic choice after that famous tee that sparked a movement of support of sorts for you?

Yes. We thought of the T-shirt that I wore when I got arrested that said, “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, let’s smash the patriarchy, me and you”. Strangely enough, that T-shirt gave me a voice when I could not speak for myself. I thought, what if we could make more such clothes for other people who cannot speak up for themselves in various life situations, whether it is society, their family, or anything else. And that is how my brand Chapter 2 was born.

What’s the story behind that tee? Were you surprised when it got that sea of support from women across all sections and ages?

The day I was arrested, I obviously did not know that I was going to get arrested. My cupboard was a mess, as was my life. While I was picking what to wear for the interrogation, this T-shirt popped out in front of me. I had never seen that T-shirt before. I looked at what it said, and I felt like I was part of this very patriarchal society that was targeting me. It spoke to me, and I put it on. So yes, it was a strange, speaking-to-me sort of moment. A year later, I bumped into a guy whose NGO had sent me that T-shirt. It was made by an NGO and sent to a bunch of female actors. It was regarding period pain. He told me that he sold 20,000 T-shirts because I wore them. He said, ‘I want to give you a commission.’ I said, ‘I do not want to take any commission off this.’ 

When did you realize that the T-shirt had become a moment?

Shibani Dandekar wrote me a letter while I was in jail, saying that people had been posting this T-shirt and this quote. It was really bizarre for me to believe that people were supporting me because up to that point, there was minimal to no support. I distinctly remember it felt very bizarre. I thought, “Why are they supporting me now? I just wore a T-shirt.” Then I realized that maybe something about that T-shirt resonated with people. Even now, many people come up to me and say that they wore this T-shirt. I did not know then, and even now, I possibly cannot know the extent of its impact.

Shibani was one of your strongest supporters. Who were the others?

I had a bunch of close friends who stood by me. At the time, it was not cool to support me. Anyone who supported me used to get trolled and lose job opportunities. It was miserable for them. Shibani, Nidhi, Anisha, Samisha, and Anusha, my girlfriends, really held fort. I also had Saqib Saleem and Huma. Saqib supported my parents a lot when Showik and I were in jail. I have been blessed to have these people in my life. If you have one true friend, that is enough to go through anything.

You spoke about how many women in jail were innocent. They didn’t even have money for representation. Did you ever want to reach out to them and help them after you were acquitted?

I do my bit. But unlike most celebrities, I do not want to talk about any good work I do, because everything gets misconstrued. In the last five years, I have tried to wear my own oxygen mask first. I was not in a position to help anyone else until I helped myself. But I hope I get to a place where I can fight for injustices in undertrial prisons in India and help people who cannot afford representation.

You spoke about writing a diary in jail. Do you still pen your thoughts?

I have not been able to write much since 2020. I think I am scared to write. I do not know what will come out. Trauma does not leave you. You just find a way to coexist with it. The only reason to revisit that trauma would be to help someone else. I am grateful to people who shared their stories because they helped me. But I do not know if I trust society’s interpretation just yet.

Have you forgiven the media for spinning the narrative about you? I do not think Aryan (Khan) has. He keeps away from them. Your stories are very similar in terms of the charges, both of you being in your 20s at the time, and you were in jail for a similar number of days. 27 days for you and 25 for him. Did you ever feel that he was reliving your story? Did you feel like reaching out to him or his family?

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. I thought I would speak to Variety India because you do not seem like the typical media types.

In those 27 days in prison, what was the hardest part?

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.

Was there a point when you felt like a victim? Looking at you now, there appear to be no traces of what you went through. 

I did go through the whole victim-spiraling. ‘Why has this happened,’ and ‘why me,’ all of that. 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. 

What are you most proud of yourself for?

I’m actually not even as proud of myself as I am of my brother and my mom and dad, for having gone through all of this and coming out on the other side and retaining their essence as human beings. And not become jaded, you know… just the desire to live again and be normal again. You go out into society and do what it is that you want to do. I think the normal part of my life is the most special part. And that brings my family and me crazy amounts of joy.

How did that episode change your personality and is that change permanent?

I definitely have changed a lot. I’m definitely wiser. My friends joke that I’m an 80-year-old inside the body of a 33-year-old, because I’ve seen a lot. Like you can’t unsee those life experiences, and it changes who you are. Is my core still the same? I hope so. Because I also didn’t want to be bitter. I don’t think I am. I have been angry. I have been bitter. But I’ve worked really hard to kind of not let my life situation and my life change who I am or dictate who I become as a person. I’ve been in therapy for the last four years. I think that’s really helped me have a perspective on who I’m becoming. And not letting trauma just override what I’m becoming. I choose to be a lot of things. I choose to still be kind. I choose to still believe in love, and I choose to just be normal, really. Like I choose not to feel specially picked out by the universe to go through this. I’m just a girl who’s trying to live her life and make money and go out and create something and all the things that a 30-year-old would want to do.

Do you see yourself loving the same way you did before? 

Do I love the same way? Sure. But do I love anyone more than the people I already trust? I don’t know. I feel like 2020, or the trauma part of my life, kind of just… I say my friends chose me. I didn’t choose them, because whoever stayed became the people I trust and love the most. My life is full, in terms of who all I have in my life. I do want to love more freely, and I don’t mean it just in a romantic way. I just mean by love. And I hope I get there. I’m not sure if I am entirely there right now.

What do you see yourself doing in the next five years?

You know, I used to make a lot of plans and I used to think that this is what’s going to happen when I’m 30. I’m going to get married at this age. I’m going to have children. This is when I’m going to win this award. And this is what I’m going to do in my life. But life happened. And if there’s any one singular thing that I have learned, it is that everything is already written. So whatever has to happen, will happen. All I try to focus on is the now. But because I am also human, I hope for many things to happen in the next five years, especially for my brand, Chapter 2. On that journey, I hope to open many, many, many stores all across India. I hope to launch a kids’ line. I hope to launch a beauty line. I hope to do a lot of things. And I hope to change the world. But I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next five years. I just hope that whatever happens, I am blessed with peace. And that would be good enough for me.

Strangely, among all the things you said you want to do, you did not say be back on the screen. 

I shot for a show with Netflix that’s releasing this year. It’s called “Family Business.” It was nice to come back. I acted again, I think, after seven years. There were all kinds of feelings and emotions attached to it. It felt nice. Is it my primary job anymore? No, because I went and got a whole new career. That is when I got a film again. So I can’t rely on it. Do I enjoy it? Is it like a passion? Sure. Does it appease the 17-year-old version of myself who once wanted to be a very big actor? Yes, but I think I consider myself an entrepreneur or a founder first and everything else second.

What is the one thing you want people to ask you, but they do not?

I do not want people to ask me anything. If you see me on the road, ignore me. Act like I am not there and just go.