“Hum haar jeet, success failure mein itna ulajh gaye hain ki zindagi jeena bhool gaye hai. Zindagi mein agar kuch important hai toh woh hai khud zindagi” which translates to- we are so engrossed in success and failure that we’ve forgotten to live, if there’s something important in life, it is, to live. The unbelievable and untimely demise of actor Sushant Singh Rajput has left many in shock.
Source: Amul
Sushant Singh Rajput was born in Patna, Bihar and completed his schooling from Delhi. A meritorious and ever-curious boy from childhood, had several academic achievements and got into the prestigious Delhi Technological University. But he had a different calling, the forever passionate to follow his dreams guy, took a leap of faith and left his engineering college mid-way to try his luck in dancing and acting.
From being a background dancer in award shows to being the star perfomer in the same, the man had come a long way. Being an outsider with no god-father in Bollywood, Rajput paved his own way, enjoying and growing through every medium in the interim. Playing the lead in the famous daily soap, Pavitra Rishta, he garnered much appreciation for acting and became a household name. He also won many hearts as a contestant in Zara Nachke Dikha and Jhalak Dikhla Jaa. This was just the beginning of his journey.
Source: Twitter
With his remarkable debut in hit film, Kai Po Che, critics were in all-praise of his acting and judged him to be “the next big thing in Bollywood”. His journey from television to films was even compared to Shah Rukh Khan’s. The innately talented actor bagged several films thereafter like Shudh Desi Romance, PK, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, Son Chiriya and Kedarnath. He never ceased to impress us and made many go weak in the knees by his boy-next door charm.
Sushant is however best remembered as MS Dhoni in the former Indian skipper’s biopic with the same name. Rajput totally aced the acting as he was able to walk and talk like MS Dhoni and made us proud. He spread his magic over a larger audience after it and got his work and himself recognized as an artist.
Chhichore, the movie that spoke of failures not being the end of life and of battling suicidal thoughts, seems to have a rather ironical plot as compared to the life of Rajput. Maybe for the first time he didn’t get into the skin of the character, off-screen, and forgot all that he taught us through the film. But maybe, he lacked close ones who could not only sympathize but also empathize with him and help him through hard times.
The saddest part is that he was the one who had inspired so many, his fans specially, to dream big and to live the dream but he himself left before fulfilling his own dreams. His posts on social media reflected how big a dreamer he was, he had enlisted 50 things which he wanted to pursue and time and again he used to remind his followers the same. He was a philanthropist and an entrepreneur as well.
Sushant was a gem of a person. He was humble, grounded and down to earth. I can verify this with my personal experience. The way he loved and venerated his fans, impeccable. It is said that fans are what make a star, a star and this man truly respected them a lot. To connect with his fans, he used to take out time and conduct ask me anything sessions on Twitter. Even on Instagram, he made his fans his family, used to talk to them on the comment section and even went on to make some fans lucky by literally following them back. I too had been one of them and felt extremely exhilarated by this sweet gesture of his. I can’t believe I won’t get lucky in this aspect anymore.
Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that someday I would have to refer Sushant in the past tense as he would be no more. That I won’t get to see his impish smile anymore, his films in theatres, his grin, his eyes full of hopes and dreams, his philosophical quotes and that one day he wouldn’t be with us. His words had immense impact on his fans. His intelligence, philosophy and talks on astrophysics made us think twice. His intellectual quotient was very high and held interests in various topics as well. His hunger to never stop learning new things was inspiring too, an example of which was learning to play the guitar, star-gazing by installing a telescope and not to forget, getting into the skin of the characters he portrayed even if it meant long hours of training as for MS Dhoni. He wouldn’t stop unless he gave full justice to the role, be it on television or films.
Source: Twitter
Sushant may have left this materialistic world but would never leave our hearts. It’s difficult to even come to terms with it and the cause being mental health is terrifying and alarming at the same time. It’s high time we learn the hidden truths behind the widest smiles.
Written by -A small fan, Samriddhi Nahata
The Day I Met Sushant – A Real Star
“Mil ke accha laga. Khayal rakhna.” Those were the words of Sushant Singh Rajput when I met him close to three years back. These words flashed infront of my eyes the moment I came to know of his unfateful passing.
It was on 28th June 2017, when I was dining with my family at a suburban hotel in Mumbai relishing in my post birthday celebration lunch when I spotted Sushant Singh Rajput dining across at another table. I knew I “had to” meet him. Towards the end of our meals, I gathered courage and went upto him to congratulate him for his marvelleous portrayal of MS Dhoni’s character in the blockbuster hit movie – MS Dhoni : The Untold Story. After exchanging pleasantaries, I definitely did not miss the chance to convey that the movie’s success was indeed a due result of his efforts which was highly acknowledged and appreciated by one and all. I mentioned to him that given the mark he made for himself after the biopic he had indeed set a huge standard for himself and also that his own life journey was supremely inspiring. As fans we just didn’t get entertained via movies but if one avidly followed him on social media they would know that he had knowledge in abundance which became a good learning for us. I take a moment to say, it was only because of the fact that he made me super comfortable around himself allowing me to express my thoughts, truly showed the kind of person he was. Immensely humble who loved his fans as much as they adored him. This was proven when he calmly heard me out and his expressions showed he was indeed quite attentive – which paved the way for us to have a brief chat. Not even for a moment did I feel that I was talking to a movie star. I distinctly remember that he was courteous enough to ask me about myself and upon knowing the reason for me being there with my family he even wished me a belated happy birthday (could it get any better for me!). Even though my birthday was a week back, it made me really happy at that moment as I cherished his wish and he certainly knew how to make people around him feel special. Wishing each other good luck for the future, we concluded our conversation and the last sight I had of him was of his infectiously endearing smile.
Coming back to this day, it shocks me to the core that someone who literally fuelled me with his positivity in a meeting which spanned few minutes would leave us all in despair. This event took place tragically when it was coming close to three years of meeting him. If someone like him could be so impacted by mental health problems then it indeed is an eye opener for us to take the right care of our near ones. It is the adversity quotient that we humans need to build in order to go through the rough patches of our life without losing our mind.
Understanding this, it’s time we start reaching out to people wherever we may need help keeping in mind to seek it from those who are willing to do so for you with all their heart. Just Dare- You will find someone who genuinely Cares.
Personal Story By- Shweta Sharma