Is Rhea *not* welcome in Bollywood?

'After what she went through, do you think this snub would shatter her?'

All the talk about the film industry supporting traumatised actress Rhea Chakraborty and helping her come out of the public trauma that she faced after boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput died last year, has been proven to be nothing but empty posturing.

The first poster of her new film Chehre is out.

It prominently features Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Annu Kapoor, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Krystal D'souza and Raghubir Yadav. Rhea is nowhere to be seen.

This comes as a big blow to her plans to quietly make a comeback to cinema.

A close concerned friend of the actress says tells Subhash K Jha, "Not even in her wildest dream had Rhea anticipated this snub. After all that she had gone through in 2020, she was somehow trying to piece together her life again... only to be rudely awakened to the reality. She is not welcome in Bollywood, it seems."

How has Rhea taken this blow?

"After what she went through, do you think this snub would shatter her?" asks a friend, "Not at all. She has fought many hurdles during the last year. She will fight this one too."

Now the question that Rhea's friends and well-wishers in the film industry are asking is: Will her role be cut in Chehre? Or would she be spared at least that indignity?

The most surprising part of this snub is Director Rumi Jaffrey's silence on the matter.

Rumi is known to be a close friend of Rhea and had supported her at a time when the entertainment industry kept mum.

Reveals a source, "Rumi Jaffrey had no say in the matter. He was not consulted about the date of release of Chehre or about Rhea going missing from the poster."