Social media are not just for posting pictures of your abs ... orcats: Sushant
I want to [show] that if I can use Instagram, not just for my abs pictures, or my cat’s pictures... I can use it to bring together so much talent. SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT ACTOR
Asocial network is an odd thing — it’s an extremely personal space and also a very public arena. While most Bollywood actors use social networks to keep fans updated or to fortify their star power, Sushant Singh Rajput is on another path.
Recently, the actor appeared to do some housecleaning, deleting all but 15 Instagram posts and 35 tweets — the numbers were 20 and 38, respectively, at the time of going to press. What’s left is something more cerebral than just an ode to a celebrity.
But why? Sushant tells us, “No matter from where you look at it, it’ll still make probably the least sense. I’m trying to make a point to myself and others that these technologies are there not just for what people are looking for [in daily life].
“The technology we use [nowadays] is a supercomputer of the 1990s... I want to [show] that if I can use Instagram, not just for my abs pictures, or my cat’s pictures... I can use it to bring together so much talent.”
His attempts are being noticed by the right people. Sushant says, “I reply to at least 100-200 people every day without hashtagging ‘AskSSR’. I know that some 5,000 of [the commenters] are economists, cognitive scientists and the best minds to come together on a platform like Instagram. This is the point that I’m trying to prove. [A social network] can be used as a differentiator to bring 5,000 [people] — like these great minds — to come together.”
Does his present mood have anything to do with his non-film activity? He has set up a company that aims to bring about socio-economic change through technology. “It’s probably correlated,” replies Sushant, who will be seen next in Kedarnath. “It’s my moral imperative and not just my need for money to understand things beyond what I already know.”