Sushant Singh Rajput

There are sporadic attempts to create a healthy atmosphere to people in the Bollywood industry to express the issues they face in their lives, but it is a struggle to open up. And because of the pressures the Bollywood industry faces towards the public, the lack of opening up leads to levels of depression. Young people developing in the industry have lost their lives due to mental health issues, and on 14th June 2020, we heard about the suicide of one of the most promising young actors, Sushant Singh Rajput.

Sushant was born in Patna, in the eastern state of Bihar. The influence he got for pursuing in acting and dance was attending a Shiamak Davar dancing class in 2005. He was then enrolled to a Barry John film class in 2006, where he realised his passion was acting and dancing. He was happy and successful in the dance and drama classes and decided to do what he was good at. He dropped out of engineering and devoted himself full-time to dancing and acting.

Sushant started his acting career in television serials. The casting team of Balaji Telefilms invited him to an audition for Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. The character Preet Juneja wasn’t really exploited on the show, but he created a special bond with the viewers that he was brought back for the series finale. He was portrayed as a spirit, looking on as his family celebrates after going through difficult times. In 2009, Sushant played Manav Deshmukh in the show Parvita Rishta. He was a mature character, playing as a mechanic to help his family. His acting was widely appreciated by film critics and the audience, where he won the awards for best male actor and most popular actor. Starring in this series propelled his acting career and gave him a steppingstone to starring in films. Before that in 2010, he joined the dance serial Zara Nachke Dikha 2. He wanted to establish his dancing ability and wanted to enhance them for future roles in the film industry. He then got his first film role in 2013.

The first film Sushant starred in was Kai Po Che! His character was called Ishaan, who was an ex-district level cricketer who is a victim of politics in the cricketing selection fraternity. Together Ishaan, Omi (the nephew of Hindu politician Bittu) and a geek called Govind open a sports shop and an academy to train and promote talented budding cricketers. After toiling hard, they succeed in establishing it as a centre for cricket among the local youth and start to incur profits. Sushant’s journey to Bollywood is reflected by this idea, because he had to work hard to reach his full potential. We also see his character being extremely supportive to his sister Vidya, by getting help for her exams. This alludes to Sushant’s loving nature in real life to his family, and he valued the happiness of his family to succeed in his life. Ishaan also meets an aspiring cricketer called Ali Hashmi and trains him with vigour and dynamism. The connection to Sushant’s real life was he was extremely talented and needed that nurturing to succeed in Bollywood, therefore he thrived in television. Due to political conflicts, Ishaan sacrificed his life to save Ali’s, which led him to be shot. The sacrifice in the movie was transparent for Ali to succeed as an international cricketer, reflecting Sushant’s attitude towards his loved ones in real life. In this movie, Ishaan had a dream, worked extremely hard for the profits and success. He then nurtured young talent and wanted them to succeed too. He sacrificed his life to see others achieve their dreams.

The movie Sushant starred in which attracted the most attention was M.S Dhoni, the Untold Story. This was because Sushant played Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The movie delved into the upbringing of the Indian cricketing legend. At 14, Dhoni was scouted whilst being a goalkeeper in football. He had natural wicket keeping ability, but grinded on his batting and was a regular in his youth team. When Dhoni was selected for the Ranji Trophy (India’s first-class level), his draft notice is held up due to which he is late in reaching Kolkata despite his friends' help. But Dhoni does not give up and, to please his father, he joins the Kharagpur Station as a ticket collector. However, Dhoni was depressed with his job. Even though he was supplying for his family, he wasn’t happy and wanted cricket to be his ambition. Like Sushant, he wasn’t interested in engineering and wanted to pursue a career in acting. Dhoni decides to play cricket alongside his work, and after his dayshifts he goes to practice cricket, just like Sushant went to dance and film class whilst studying. Dhoni leaves his job and admits to his father that cricket is his only ambition and he wants to become a professional cricketer. He works hard and is selected in the national team and makes his debut. However, Dhoni’s depression came back and affected his form in the 2007 World Cup. But MS Dhoni was a fighter. As captain of the national side, he wins the T20 World Cup in 2007 and leads India to the number one ranking in Test Matches in 2008 and 2009. He then led India to their first World Cup in 2011 since 1983. Watching that final scene took me back to the time I watched Dhoni bat for India. Sushant captured that role perfectly, his representation of Dhoni was exceptional. The normal trend in the cinema is you enter as a MS Dhoni fan and you leave as a Sushant fan. The life of Dhoni is extremely similar to Sushant, started from the bottom and now as successful as you could be.

Sushant’s final movie he starred was the one I believed encapsulated his life. It is called Chhichhore, portraying life in different accommodations in a college. Sushant plays a character called Aniruddh Pathak, where he has a son called Raghav. Raghav is an aspiring engineer who really wanted to be enrolled in the Indian Institute of Technology. Aniruddh was unaware of the exertion of pressure Raghav was under. Found out that he didn’t qualify for the IIT, he jumped off the balcony of his house. He was worried he was branded a ‘loser’, so he wanted to take his life away.

This is when the movie illustrates the issues of being belittled due to where you lived in college. Aniruddh invited 5 of his best friends from college to tell Raghav their story. In 1992, on the first day of college, Aniruddh is allotted a room in the H4 hostel, which is infamous for housing "losers". The occupants of the H4 block got the name because they repeatedly performed poorly in the annual sports General Championships (GC). Aniruddh befriends five of his hostel mates, who develop a close friendship with him. Meanwhile, Raggie, a senior from H3 fast-tracks Aniruddh's application because of Aniruddh's athleticism and asks him to relocate to H3, a posh and luxurious hostel, infinitely better than H4. Aniruddh, however, wanting to stay with his friends, turns down the offer instigating Raggie to call him a loser. Aniruddh, livid at being called a loser, decides that his hostel will win the coveted GC trophy so that the tag of "losers" will be removed once and for all. To motivate his friends, he requests all of them to sacrifice something they loved till they win the GC Cup. He also comes up with a series of plans for them to make sure other participants are focused, so that they can qualify for the finals. His plans work and for the first time in the college's history, H4 reaches second in points just behind H3 and qualifies for the final rounds where they have to win a 4x400m relay race, a basketball tournament and a chess competition to beat H3 and win the GC. Raggie, now worried that H3 might lose to a bunch of "losers", tries to sabotage 2 of the members of H4. Despite that, both of them win in their respective relay and chess finals. Aniruddh tries to score a last point in the basketball finals to win but fails. Although H3 wins, Raggie genuinely congratulates H4 for putting up a good fight.

The message from this movie is Aniruddh and his friends tell Raghav that, despite losing the competition, the people who lived in H4 were never called "losers" again because they tried to win instead of bowing out of the competition for fear of losing. They put in so much effort and fight to win. This convinced Raghav to get surgery and attend college the year after. There is no such thing as being a loser when you put in the effort and try your best.

These movies Sushant starred in captured his life, as well as his personality. Since Sushant’s mother died in 2002, he aspired to become an actor to make his family proud. In Kai Po Che, he was selfless, caring and loving. He cared about his sister so much, as well as aspiring talent. In the MS Dhoni movie, it was depicted that Dhoni started with no money, just like Sushant. They both relied on their hard work, drive and talent to succeed in their respected fields. And in Chhichhore, Sushant valued his relationship with his friends than live in luxury. His ethos was to be with the people you loved and be happy. He also valued hard work, and people respect you for that instead of just winning. Sushant was one of the most talented actors I’ve seen on a screen, and he was so loved by his fans. He was extremely hard working, as he didn’t have a background in acting. It made his death even more sad, to think such a young actor with surging potential took his life like that. Championing Sushant’s attitude towards life, you can achieve anything you can. If you believe in yourself and put the work in, you’ll succeed further in life. That was the result of Sushant’s career. Even though he is gone from the industry, his legacy will last forever. Young aspiring talents can use Sushant as inspiration, to make it to the big time.

Sushant, you’ll always be remembered as a young legend of the Bollywood industry. Thank you for the entertainment on screen, and the hard work you put in the industry. As Drake would say, ‘started from the bottom now we’re here’. I’ll never forget you.

By Rhiyan Patel