★Sushant Singh Rajput (21 January 1986 – 14 June 2020) was an Indian actor best known for his work in Hindi cinema.[2] He starred in a number of commercially successful Bollywood films such as M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Kedarnath (2018) and Chhichhore (2019). Due to his contribution to the film industry, he received a Screen Award and was nominated for the Filmfare Awards on three occasions. He appeared on Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list twice since 2017.
★Rajput started his career after dropping out of his engineering course at the Delhi College of Engineering and entering the theatre industry in Mumbai. He moved on to feature in Hindi television serials, his debut show was the romantic drama Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil (2008), followed by the lead role in the soap opera Pavitra Rishta (2009–2011). He made his Bollywood debut in the film adaptation Kai Po Che! (2013) which became a commercial and critical success. Followed by his starring role in the romantic comedy Shuddh Desi Romance (2013) and the role of the titular detective in the action thriller Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).
★He also starred in a number of other films such as the reincarnation drama Raabta (2017), the historical drama Sonchiriya (2019) and the action thriller Drive (2019). His highest-grossing releases came with a supporting role in the satire PK (2014), and from the titular role in the sports biopic of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. For his performance in the latter, he received his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and became the winning nomination at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Apart from acting, he was the founder of a nonprofit organisation and has been credited as the co-founder of a technological startup.
★Rajput died by suicide at his home in Bandra, Mumbai in June 2020, aged 34.[5][6][7] His last film, Dil Bechara (2020), was released posthumously on the streaming platform Hotstar.
★Early life and education
Sushant Singh Rajput was born in Patna in the state of Bihar to Krishna Kumar Singh and Usha Singh.[2][8][9] His father is a retired technical officer and worked at Bihar State Handloom Corporation in Patna.[10] He was the youngest of five siblings and had the nickname Gulshan.[11] One of his four sisters Mitu Singh was a state-level cricket player.[8] He attended the St. Karen’s High School in Patna.[11][12] His family moved to Delhi following his mother’s death in 2002 where Rajput completed his schooling for intermediate studies in Kulachi Hansraj Model School.
★Rajput was reportedly an avid reader who was deeply interested in astrophysics and won the National Olympiad in Physics.[13] He secured admission in the Delhi College of Engineering (later renamed Delhi Technological University) to pursue a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering.[14][13] According to Rajput, he did not have any interest in engineering but his family gave him no option which left him dissatisfied. He instead wanted to become an astronaut and later an air force pilot but was also interested in Bollywood, being a fan of Shah Rukh Khan.
2006–2011: Early career and television
During his course at the Delhi College of Engineering, Rajput enrolled himself in Shiamak Davar‘s dance classes.[8] Soon afterward, he also began attending acting classes under the theatre director Barry John.[16][17] Rajput later stated that he found the experience to be liberating and wanted to continue doing it forever.[18] He featured as a background dancer in the Dhoom Again song of Dhoom 2 and in Ashwariya Rai‘s performance at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[19] In 2006,[20] he dropped out of his engineering course during his fourth year to begin a career in arts and performance.[21] He moved to Mumbai, took up odd jobs and small roles while working in the theatre industry.[22] In Mumbai, Rajput joined Nadira Babbar‘s theatre group called the Ekjute in which he remained for two and a half years.
★Rajput was spotted by a casting team of Balaji Telefilms while he was working at the Prithvi Theatre.[16] He was subsequently called for an audition and cast as a second lead in the television series Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil in 2008.[25][26] He had secured the role of Preet Singh Juneja, the stepbrother of the lead named Harshad Chopda and entered the show in its seventh episode.[27] The character was killed early in the show, but due to popularity among viewers was brought back in the series finale as a spirit looking on as his family celebrated coming out of difficult times.[28] The performance had made an impression on the producer Ekta Kapoor who vouched for him to be cast as the lead in another series Pavitra Rishta,[25] reportedly against the wishes of the hosting channel, Zee TV.[
In Pavitra Rishta, Rajput was cast as Manav Deshmukh who was an “ideal son and husband” and co-starred along with Ankita Lokhande.[31] The role was reportedly a breakthrough for him and for which he won various television awards,[32] including his first award for best actor in the Indian Television Academy Awards 2010.[33] He also won three major television awards in the categories of best male actor and most popular actor.[34] In 2010, he joined the dance reality show Zara Nachke Dikha in its second season as part of the Mast Kalandar Boys team.[35][34] On the Mother’s Day special episode, the team dedicated a performance to Rajput’s mother who had died.[36] Later in the same year, he also took part in the fourth season of another dance competition reality show called Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and was paired alongside the choreographer Shampa Sonthalia; they emerged as the runners-up of the season.
Rajput continued to act in Pavitra Rishta from its first airing in 2009 till his exit in 2011,[37] having played the part of the protagonist of the series for two and a half years at the time of his exit.[38] He had stated that he intended to move to the United States to study filmmaking and had already gained experience behind the scenes in the film Raaz 2,[26] where he was an assistant director.[39] Rajput made a later reappearance in the final episode of Pavitra Rishta in 2014 after gaining critical acclaim in Bollywood.
★2011–2015: Film debut and Yash Raj Films
From left to right: Rajput, Rajkumar Rao, Abhishek Kapoor and Amit Sadh at the promotion of Kai Po Che! in 2013
In 2011, Rajput was spotted by Mukesh Chhabra, the casting director of Kai Po Che!, who invited him for an audition.[40][41] He was in the process of enrolling for a course in filmmaking at Stanford University but decided to accept the offer.[16] He was subsequently cast in the role of Ishaan Bhatt, a district-level cricketer who was a victim of politics in the selection fraternity and one of the three leads, along with Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh.[42][43] The film was directed by Abhishek Kapoor and based on the Chetan Bhagat novel called The 3 Mistakes of My Life, which dealt with the life of three friends affected by the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and the 2002 Gujarat riots was released in 2013 and became a commercial and critical success.[44] Rajput received a nomination for the Filmfare Awards in the category of best debut actor for his performance in the film.
★Personal life
Rajput with Lokhande at Kai Po Che’s premiere
Rajput’s personal relationships have been the subject of widespread media attention.[155][156] In 2011, Rajput publicly proposed to his Pavitra Rishta co-star Ankita Lokhande during a national broadcast of the dance competition show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa;[31] both of them had participated in the show as competing contestants.[157] The couple began dating after their first meeting on the set of Pavitra Rishta, where they had been cast as husband and wife to each other.[158] In 2012, they began living together,[159] and reports of an imminent marriage between the two occasionally cropped up in the media.[160] In an interview, Rajput stated that marriage and cohabitation were no different and that it was hypocritical to treat the former as sacred and the latter as a crime.[161][162] At an event, he had said, “I am very transparent about my relationships. I mean I will not hesitate to say that I am in a relationship”
★
In 2018, he was the subject of another rumour regarding his Kedarnath co-star Sara Ali Khan.[156] The rumours were never confirmed as before the two supposedly broke up, Rajput refused to comment on the claims.[178] Later in the next year, it was reported that he was dating actress Rhea Chakraborty and that they intended to keep the matter private.[179] When questioned, he reportedly unwittingly confirmed the relationship by stating that if interviewers asked questions that were only about him, he could answer at his own discretion but he would also have to ask “somebody” before confirming any details.[180] Chakraborty and Rajput were occasionally spotted on “dates” and outings in Mumbai,[155][156] and on a vacation to the Himalayan region of Ladakh.[179]
After Rajput’s death, Chakraborty confirmed that she was his girlfriend and that he would refuse medication, relying instead on yoga and meditation.[181] According to Rajput’s father, the actor mentioned his plans to marry in 2021 but did not reveal his intended bride; Ankita Lokhande was the only girlfriend that his father had known about.
Your sole rest in peace ☮️
★Death
Main article: Death of Sushant Singh Rajput
On 14 June 2020, Rajput, aged 34, was found dead, hanging from the ceiling fan[1] in his home in Bandra, Mumbai.[183] He had reportedly shown signs of clinical depression and was suffering from bipolar disorder.[184][185][186] The Mumbai Police commenced an investigation, stating that the death was being treated as a suicide.[187] The postmortem report stated that the cause of death was “asphyxia due to hanging,”[188] and called it a “clear case of suicide.”[189] The autopsy doctors placed the time of death at 10 to 12 hours before postmortem examination on 14 June at 11:30 p.m.—meaning between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. (Indian Standard Time).[190] No foul play was found.[191] The viscera report likewise ruled out foul play.[192] On 25 July, Rajput’s family lodged a first information report with police in Patna, where his father lives, accusing Rhea Chakraborty and five others of abetment of suicide.[193]
On 31 July, Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a case to investigate the money laundering of Rajput’s money from his bank accounts by Chakraborty, her parents and associates.[194] On 19 August 2020, the Supreme Court of India allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Indian national government’s top investigating agency, to take control of the investigation[195] and ordered the CBI to look into any future cases registered in relation to Rajput’s death.[196] Later, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also filed a case to investigate drug peddling, based on phone chats forwarded to it by ED during its investigation.
On 8 September, Rhea Chakraborty was arrested by the NCB in a drug case linked to the investigation of the death probe. Prior to the arrest, 9 others were arrested by the NCB in the drug case including Rhea’s brother, Showik Chakraborty.[198]
On 3 October, Dr. Sudhir Gupta of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, leader of a forensic medical team tasked by CBI for assistance, said, “Sushant death is a case of suicide. Murder completely ruled out.”[199] Gupta told Asian News International (ANI), “There were no injuries over the body other than hanging. There were no marks of struggle or scuffle in the body and clothes of the deceased.”[200] On 5 October, ANI reported that the AIIMS medical board had submitted its report to CBI confirming that Rajput died by suicide and ruling out murder.[201] On 15 October 2020, the CBI said it “continues to investigate the death of Rajput. There are certain speculative reports in the media that the CBI has reached a conclusion. It may be reiterated that these reports are speculative and erroneous.
★Filmography
Films
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2013 Kai Po Che! Ishaan Bhatt Debut film [43]
Shuddh Desi Romance Raghu Ram
2014 PK Sarfaraz Yousuf
2015 Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! Detective Byomkesh Bakshy [59]
2016 M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story Mahendra Singh Dhoni
2017 Raabta Jilaan/Shiv Kakkar [93]
2018 Welcome to New York Himself Cameo appearance [76]
Kedarnath Mansoor Khan [104]
2019 Sonchiriya Lakhan Singh or Lakhna [127]
Chhichhore Aniruddh Pathak
Drive Samar [137]
2020 Dil Bechara Manny Posthumous release [203]
Television
@B_a_t_c_h_e_l_o_r_creations 