When the news of the 34-year-old actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s untimely demise broke out on June 14 afternoon, many of us may have wished 2020 to not have happened at all! Leaving the entire country in shock and despair, Rajput is believed to have committed suicide, as per the initial police reports. It was only six days after his ex-manager, Disha Salian committed suicide by jumping off a Mumbai building, to which Sushant reacted as ‘devastating news’, he is believed to have chosen the same path as hers.
From the medical reports and anti-depressant medications recovered from his house, the police sources confirmed that the actor was suffering from depression. For a country that is already dealing with a pandemic situation and related lockdown restrictions, the news of his passing away is too harsh to be accepted.
As his death initiates conversations around mental health, let us also not forget about his deeds. Besides being an accomplished actor, here are many lesser-known facts about him that should be celebrated, remembered, and are worth your attention.
An Educationist
Apart from being born with inherent acting skills, Sushant has been a brilliant student and a topper of his class as well.
“As a child, I was shy yet mischievous. I was academically bright, won National Olympiad in physics. I got enrolled for studying mechanical engineering at the Delhi College of Engineering, but dropped out in the fourth year to follow my showbiz dreams”, he reveals. In fact, he was the 7th rank holder in the All India Engineering DCE Entrance Exam in 2003 and cleared close to eleven engineering entrance exams which also include Indian School of Mines, located in Dhanbad. Financial hurdles did not allow him to pursue his education abroad.
“My mother once told me that “I want you to have a very good education – not because you will become an engineer or a doctor one day, but it will decide the way you think.” She always encouraged me to chase my dreams, follow my heart!”, Sushant said in an interview.
In 2017, after training himself at NASA’s US Space and Rocket Centre, located in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of his preparation for the film Chanda Mama Door Ke (later, he withdrew from the project citing date conflicts), Sushant decided to give India’s young minds an opportunity to experience the same under his education program Sushant4Education.
Sushant selected two teenagers Bhooshan Sawant and Selywn Makwana, based on an interview taken by him to sponsor their trip to the US’s Space Camp Center. In fact, Bhoosan (14) was chosen to be the ‘best trainee camper’ among the 12 students selected worldwide for the Space Camp. The Space Camp is known for enabling team spirit, problem-solving, and critical thinking capacities for young students.
“We were all seated in a room and Sushant sir was speaking to each one individually. He asked some questions based on our favorite subjects”, recalls Bhoosan, fondly.
An Entrepreneur
In May 2018, Sushant Singh Rajput took his maiden step in the domain of entrepreneurship with the launch of Innsaei Ventures Pvt Ltd. in partnership with long-standing entrepreneur Varun Mathur. Innsaei is an ancient Icelandic word that stands for intuition. In a first-of-its-kind entrepreneurial venture, it focuses on the convergence of intellectual property and emerging technologies.
“Emerging technologies are disrupting socio-cultural and economic structures at an exponential pace and this will impact key areas like education, employment, entertainment & health @OnInnsaei”, he took to social media announcing his venture. “#Innsaei would work in R&D of innovative solutions, that will allow people to be better prepared at a large scale for technological disruptions and to maximize the positive potential of opportunities enabled by emergent technologies. @OnInnsaei”, he adds.
“This is the right time to collaborate and to create innovative solutions that will allow at a large scale, for people to be better prepared for these disruptions and to maximize the positive potential of opportunities enabled by emergent technologies. We felt the immediate and important need to create a collaborative structure that would address this and Innsaei is a manifestation of that dream”, the technologically-driven Sushant explained in one of his media statements.
“It is rare to have a movie star with this kind of depth of knowledge across such a diverse set of areas. Innsaei is the embodiment of Sushant’s thought leadership”, proudly expressed his entrepreneurial partner Varun Mathur.
In fact, in the same year, the governmental policy think-tank, NITI Ayog signed him to promote its flagship initiative of Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP). “Sushant Singh Rajput, through his work and as a youth icon, embodies the energetic and spirited masses shaping the country’s growth narrative today”, says NITI Ayog CEO, Amitabh Kant.
A Philanthropist
In 2017, Sushant took the initiative of sponsoring education for needy school students. “My team is working on the idea where we are selecting a group of schools, and we will take a merit test of the kids. If the kids pass the exam, we will take care of their education cost for a year”, said Rajput while speaking to Hindustan Times. The students had to take the exam every year to qualify for the sponsorship which according to him would have made the process more competitive and exciting for the students.
Sushant Singh Rajput was praised for donating Rs.1 crore for the Kerala flood survivors in 2018, on behalf of a fan. Consequently, he won many hearts when he reportedly contributed Rs.1.25 crore to the flood-ravaged Nagaland in September 2018.
“I am moved at the kind gesture made by @itsSSR and his team towards #NagalandFloods and willingness to help #Nagaland at this crucial hour. Your contribution is encouraging and I hope to see the rest of the nation come forward selflessly, to #DonateForNagaland“, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio of Nagaland took to Twitter expressing his gratitude towards the actor.
A Self-made Man
“I am here just because of my hard work and talent. All the films I have done and the projects I am doing are the ones I really wanted to do. As an outsider if I can do it then anybody can”, Sushant says humbly. At a time when the Indian industry gets often rifted with the nepotism controversy, Sushant made an impression in the industry all by himself.
Rajput joined in Shiamak Davar’s dance classes while studying engineering and later started attending Barry John’s drama classes in Delhi. “As we started doing shows, I found the experience liberating. I realized I could communicate with the audience. I knew I wanted to do this forever. Barry John felt I had it in me to be an actor. That gave me a lot of hope,” said Sushant.
Soon, Rajput found himself to be a part of Davar’s standard dance troupe. He was part of the groups of background dancers at the 51st Filmfare Awards in 2005 and the opening ceremony of 2006 Commonwealth Games in Australia. Overcoming all the doubts from his friends and family, he came to Mumbai. “They felt I was wasting my time. But I just knew I had to be here. I had acquired all the tools I needed to be an actor”, the actor remarked confidently.
“The first few years, all I was doing was putting the props on stage or serving tea to the actors. I didn’t mind it. It was an opportunity for me to learn from the best in the business”, he said while sharing his initial experience in Mumbai of being a part of Nadira Babbar’s Ekjute theatre group. The TV feature advertisement for Nestle Munch at the same time made his face familiar throughout India.
He was spotted by the Balaji Telefilms in 2008 and was offered a small role in a famous TV opera Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil that brought him enough fame. He was then chosen to become the male lead in Pavitra Rishta that set a milestone in his career.
“But after two years, I felt I was stagnating. I knew exactly what my character was up to each day. There were no surprises left. I was doing the same thing day in and out. So, I left TV. That’s when I decided to go to Stanford to do a course in filmmaking. I was doing the reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa at the time. I got a few films offers but nothing exciting. And then Kai Po Che happened”, the actor said regarding his transition into films. Since then, Sushant did not have to look back and his filmography grew upwardly.
Early Life
Though Sushant Singh Rajput was born in Bihar’s Patna district, originally his family belongs to Purnia. His father was a government officer. After his mother’s demise in 2002 just after Sushant’s board exams, the family moved to Delhi’s Rajiv Nagar area.
Among four of his sisters, Mitu Singh was a state-level cricketer who happened to inspire Sushant for his debutant role in Kai Po Che (2013) where he played the role of a cricket coach, named Ishaan. “I haven’t told this to anyone. But it was my sister who inspired my character. I’ve played a male version of Mitu didi. She was a state-level cricketer and as hot-headed and impulsive as my character Ishaan,” he says. A cricket enthusiast and Gali-cricketer himself, Sushant went on playing MS Dhoni on-screen in one of his most memorable performances.
Reactions poured in innumerably from the film fraternity, politicians, sports personalities, and common people alike after the news of his passing away hit the headlines. “I blame myself for not having been in touch with you for the past year. I have felt at times like you may have needed people to share your life with but somehow never followed up on that feeling, will never make the same mistake again”, filmmaker Karan Johar expresses on Instagram, in one such reaction.
While people are still struggling to accept the hard truth, discussions around depression in the Indian film industry are doing the rounds.
“Depression is a hidden disease and the manifestations are as varied as the people it affects. In the entertainment industry, there is a lot of pressure to perform, not only on-screen but off-screen too by making right friends, being in news in the right manner, and being in touch with the right people. We have lost too many young and promising people in the entertainment industry to mental health issues. There are sporadic attempts to create a healthy atmosphere for people in the industry to talk about what’s troubling them, but we are still struggling. We will probably never know what triggered this suicide, but possible reasons can be a restricted lifestyle due to lockdown and the resultant sense of isolation“, says Dr. Prakriti Poddar, a mental health expert, MD Poddar Foundation.
The fact that an actor of his stature, bestowed with fame and adulation, had to bottle up his feelings and shied away from expressing them, consumed by loneliness, is both heart-wrenching and disturbing. On his last Instagram post, dated June 3, he was affectionately remembering his mother with a heavy-heart. After all, who knows what one hides behind those adorable smiles!
Don’t trust that smile. Don’t be just awed by that physique. Depression has no face. Depression has no shape. Have you reached out to your friends yet?