The sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput due to suicide has left everyone shocked. He was just 34 years old and had a good career going for him. Last year, he had a successful film ‘Chichorre’ directed by Nitesh Tiwari. In a short career span, he had done diversified roles and seen regular box office successes. Why did he take a such a drastic step to end his life leaves lot of questions for his fans?
He made us notice him the first time in the television serial ‘Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil’ (2008) by Balaji Telefilms. He played the role of Preet Juneja and was one of the important supporting characters. His character was cool, fun and did become very popular. He was equally adept at emotional scenes.
In 2009, his next television series ‘Pavitra Rishta’ made him a household name. He played the main role of the show, Manav Deshmukh. It was a serious and matured role. His chemistry with actress Ankita Lokhande in the show was beautiful and this was loved by his fans. Sushant Singh Rajput won numerous awards for this show as Best Actor. He was part of this show for three years before he decided to quit the show and was replaced by Hiten Tejwani in the same role.
Sushant Singh Rajput made his foray into Bollywood and debuted with ‘Kai Po Che!’ (2013) directed by Abhishek Kapoor. The film was based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’. The film revolved around three friends played by actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh. He played the role of Ishan Bhatt, an ex-district level cricketer who was a victim of politics which sabotaged his career. He spotted a local boy talent and trained him to become a cricketer. The film revolved around cricket, politics and religion. It was a success at the box office and gave the TV actor stardom. His performance was widely appreciated by critics and audience.
His next film was Maneesh Sharma directed ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’ (2013). It was a lighthearted romantic film and he was paired with Parineeti Chopra. They had a refreshing chemistry in this fun film. The film explored views about commitment and live-in relationships and it was a decent success at the box office. Post this, he played a cameo in Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster ‘PK’ (2014) as a Pakistani, Sarfaraz Khan. It was an important character to the story despite the small role and he played it with a lot of innocence and simplicity.
Sushant Singh Rajput’s next film was the mystery thriller ‘Detective Bymokesh Bakshy’ (2015) directed by Dibakar Banerjee. He played the main lead. His performance was appreciated by critics but it failed at the box office. The film was very complex in nature despite being made well. The audience then was not receptive to such films.
The year 2016 saw him playing him the famous cricketer M.S.Dhoni in Neeraj Pandey directed ‘M.S.Dhoni – The Untold Story’. He played the role to the T. It was an exceptional performance from him and his efforts to play this character were felt on screen. He matched the physicality and body language of the cricketer brilliantly. We cannot see any other actor in this role. The film was a huge success at the box office and was critically acclaimed by critics and audience.
‘Raabta’ (2017) directed by Dinesh Vijan was a box office dud. There were a lot of expectations from this movie and the soundtrack became widely popular. The chemistry with Kriti Sanon was one of the highlights. It was a big setback for him.
‘Kedarnath’ (2018) directed by his mentor Abhishek Kapoor was one more landmark role for him. He played the muslim porter Mansoor Khan in the Kedarnath pilgrimage. The film was a romantic drama. He was paired opposite Sara Ali Khan, who made her debut in Bollywood. They shared a great chemistry. His performance was underrated compared to the sparkling debutant. His acting performance as a ‘pithoo’ was sincere.
Abhishek Chaubey ‘Sonchiriya’ (2019) saw him in the role of Lakhan, a dacoit and he was in the company of great actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Ranveer Shorey and Bhumi Pednekar. The story of the film revolved around the Chambal Valley. Critics rated his performance highly and there was a great dedication in his acting. Sadly, the film did not meet with the desired success as the language dialect of the film was hard for the audience to understand. Today’s audience lost connection with the lives of dacoits. His film ‘Drive’ (2019) directed by Tarun Mansukhani released directly on Netflix and it received negative reviews.
In 2019, he had one more release – ‘Chhichhore’ directed by Nitesh Tiwari. The director had huge critical and box office success with his last film ‘Dangal’ (2016) starring Aamir Khan. Despite such a huge success, he wanted to make a film on college campus life with a message that pressure should not be taken by students with few failures. The film starred Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor as main leads and it was lapped by the audience with the fun treatment to the story. There was no surprise as his performance was appreciated.
If one looks at Sushant Singh Rajput’s career, he worked with the best filmmakers in the Hindi film industry like Rajkumar Hirani, Nitesh Tiwari, Maneesh Sharma, Abhishek Kapoor, Dibakar Banerjee, Abhishek Chaubey, Neeraj Pandey, etc. Despite being an outsider, he created a niche and respect for his craft with his choices that the best filmmakers chose him. As an actor, he could get under the skin of any character. In a short career span, one could see a good variety of roles and different kinds of films. He was a brave actor. We saw him playing a cricketer, a detective, a dacoit, a porter. etc. He was the kind of actor who went into the detailing of the character in perfection with the body language, accent and looks.
Sushant Singh Rajput had great potential to be one of the superstars in the future. He had the looks and personality of a star. He was a great actor, a wonderful dancer and you can assign him in any kinds of films. He had a combination of all qualities to make a huge name in the Hindi film industry. His choices of films had diversity. Few of his films did get to backburner but he was a wonderful talent to be kept away.
Actors’ lives in the film industry can be lonely and they may fall into depression and this is something, most young actors may face. We pray for his soul to rest in peace and he will be remembered for his memorable performances in his short career.
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