Sushant Singh Rajput: A Bollywood maverick remembered

Gulf News

Sushant Singh Rajput, who committed suicide on June 14 by hanging himself in his Mumbai residence during the coronavirus lockdown, was a self-made star and a perfect antidote to the nepotism charges plaguing Bollywood.  Full Article here: https://gulfnews.com/1.72038827  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos

Transcript

00:00This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. Today we woke up to the very tragic news of

00:05Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput committing suicide in his home in Mumbai.

00:10He hung himself from the ceiling and he was just 34 years old.

00:17This grim news has reignited debate about mental health and depression

00:22among Bollywood celebrities and the pressures of living under the limelight.

00:26While the reasons for the suicide is yet to emerge, there's no denying the star power of

00:31Sushant Singh Rajput. He was a self-made star. The Patna-born star was the quintessential

00:36Bollywood outsider who was an antidote to the nepotism debate that often plagues Bollywood.

00:42Here is a man who was not born into an acting family. He was not born with any rich uncle or

00:48a very powerful godfather in Bollywood but he made it on his own steel. Just like Shah Rukh Khan,

00:53he made a foray into the world of entertainment through TV serials. It was Kavitra Rishta that

00:58gave him instant stardom and made him a household name in any Indian home. After that, he made an

01:05entry into Bollywood films with Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Pochi. It was based on Chetan Bhagat's best

01:11selling novel, Three Mistakes of My Life. Then he topped it up with some very interesting projects

01:17like MS Dhoni's The Untold Story where he played the Indian cricketing captain. The depth and the

01:24kind of research that went into his role was on display. It was a blockbuster and he also got

01:30immense critical acclaim from the film. One of the best parts about Sushant Singh Rajput is that

01:35he believed in quality rather than quantity. Unlike Bollywood stars who do three to four

01:40movies a year, here's an actor who actually made sure that he gave his all in one movie a year.

01:47Or even less than that. His catalogue of movies is very slim but it's also very rich. So he has a

01:54very rich catalogue of films. In fact, there were certain misfires of course. I mean there was a

01:59movie called Drive that premiered on Netflix which was a disaster. Another reincarnation drama called

02:05Rabta which was a romance with KT Sanon which did not do well. But there's no denying that despite

02:11not getting the box office numbers, his acting could not be faulted. In fact, I have met this

02:17actor several times during the course of his short-lived career. What we gained from him is

02:23that he is an actor who took his craft very seriously. And I remember him telling me exclusively

02:28that acting is what he loves and he's in it just for that. Not for the fanfare, not for the

02:34adulation. Sushant Singh Rajput's death comes five days after his former secretary Desha Salian,

02:40these two deaths, has triggered the debate about the importance of mental health.

02:44There were actors like Anil Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma who took to Twitter saying

02:49that it's okay, let's give this family privacy, let's not circulate these peaceful pictures,

02:55let's talk to each other during our tough times, during dark phases, go to a therapist.

03:01All actors in Bollywood are now joining hands to talk about the importance of mental health.

03:07It's only a few actors in Bollywood who actually talk openly about it. There was, of course,

03:11Deepika Padukone, Selina Jaitley, etc., who came forward to speak about it, but it's still a taboo

03:16subject in Bollywood. But Sushant Singh Rajput's death, though very tragic, has now ignited the

03:23debate of mental health and its importance in a public figure's life. Sushant Singh Rajput's

03:30untimely and unexpected death at 34 is a sad day for Bollywood movie fans all over. Although he

03:36just acted in a dozen or less movies, his presence shall never be forgotten. He leaves an indelible

03:43mark in the world of Bollywood, and he always proved that quality is always better than quantity.

03:49An effective way to mourn his loss would be to watch all his broadcasters, including Chichode,

03:55Kaipoche, and MS Dhoni, The Untold Story. You shall be missed.

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