Rhea Chakraborty has opened up about her experience of spending time in prison and shared some candid and unexpected details about her days behind bars. The actress was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in September 2020, a few months after the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, and spent around 27 days in jail before being granted bail.Rhea recently spoke about the experience during an interaction with comedian Tanmay Bhat, where she reflected on life inside a women’s undertrial prison and also used humour while revisiting one of the most difficult periods of her life.
Rhea reveals what inmates did for timepass
During the conversation, Tanmay asked Rhea what people generally do for timepass in jail. The actress replied, “They sing, they dance, they make thecha.”She also spoke about the people she encountered during her time in the women’s undertrial prison and made an observation about the absence of social hierarchy among the inmates.“People inside jail are better than people outside jail because most people, at least in the undertrial prison for women, are innocent, and there’s no hierarchy. Everyone’s equal, everyone’s a number; there’s no name,” Rhea said.When Tanmay asked whether she remembered the number assigned to her in prison, Rhea initially said, “yes”, before quickly changing her answer to “no”.
Rhea jokes about jail food and her upcoming book
The conversation also turned to the food served in prison. Rather than directly answering the question, Rhea jokingly told Tanmay, “Guys, I am writing this book, padh lena.”When asked what the book would be called, she quipped, “The book is called Chudail ka badla.”She continued joking about the food in prison, saying, “Sushi milti hai jail mein, champagne milta hai, vada pav, chat.”The conversation was part of a larger discussion in which Rhea revisited the intense media scrutiny she faced following Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June 2020.
‘If I came in, suddenly they would change the tone’
Rhea also spoke about how people behaved around her during the controversy. Recalling the awkwardness she experienced in social situations, she said that people would suddenly alter their behaviour whenever she entered a room.“With me, if people were like laughing and joking in a group and if I came in there, then suddenly they would like change the tone, be like, ‘Ha ha ha, oh hi Rhea, how are you?’” she recalled.Tanmay compared the experience to the controversy surrounding his comedy collective AIB and said that both of them were comfortable using humour to deal with their respective difficult periods, even though others found it shocking.Rhea explained that making jokes about the situation often made people uncomfortable.“It’s true though, like if I would make these jokes like we’re doing today, like four years ago, the room would suddenly just get very heavy. They didn’t know whether they should laugh or they should not laugh,” she said.
Rhea recalls ‘Imma bounce’ controversy
Tanmay also brought up a moment during the controversy when one of Rhea’s private WhatsApp messages was reportedly misinterpreted by a news channel.Recalling her message, “Imma bounce”, Tanmay joked that it was interpreted as a reference to a cheque bouncing.“Dude, remember there was that crazy shit, man. Remember like Rhea saying, ‘Imma bounce,’ and everyone was like, ‘Some cheque is bouncing,’” he recalled.Rohan Joshi joined in with a joke about how absurd the interpretation was, while the panel continued to poke fun at how easily statements and messages were misunderstood during the period.Rhea too joined in, joking about how she now seeks clarification over even innocuous messages.“Now, if someone even texts me, ‘I’m on the pot,’ I’m like, ‘Please specify,’” she said, leaving the panel in splits.She later quipped, “Good guys, good guys. You find my trauma very entertaining. I’m glad someone’s laughing.”
Rhea’s Chapter 2 and upcoming projects
Rhea, who has been gradually returning to the public spotlight, has described this phase of her life as her Chapter 2. Her appearance on Tanmay Bhat’s YouTube video saw her revisit the controversy through humour, alongside comedians Rohan Joshi, Kushagra Srivastava, Aaditya Kulshreshth and Piyush Sharma.On the work front, Rhea is set to appear in the second season of the reality series The Traitors, which is hosted by Karan Johar and is scheduled to premiere on Prime Video on August 13, 2026. The season features a large ensemble of celebrities, including Mallika Sherawat, Shweta Tiwari, Munawar Faruqui, Shalini Passi, Abhishek Malhan, Krystle D’Souza, Ranveer Brar, Dalip Tahil, Parul Gulati, Aaditya Kulshreshth (Kullu), Soundous Moufakir, Shahneel Gill and Sahil Salathia, among others.Rhea will also be seen in Netflix’s upcoming series Family Business, directed by Hansal Mehta and featuring Anil Kapoor and Vijay Varma.
