EXCLUSIVE: From Manoj Bajpayee to Kiran More, Sushant Singh Rajput’s friends and colleagues remember the actor
Kiran More says that Sushant Singh Rajput was a very good student and extremely hardworking, while Remo D'souza reveals that SSR wanted to do a dance film.
On June 14, it will be a year since Sushant Singh Rajput’s unfortunate demise. After establishing a successful career in TV, the late actor had made a shift to films with the critically and commercially acclaimed Kai Po Che! - and won everyone’s heart. Today we speak to SSR’s friends and colleagues, who share their fond memories about Rajput. While Manoj Bajpayee has worked with Sushant in Sonchiriya, Remo D'souza was a judge on season 4 of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa - which SSR was a part of.
Former cricketer Kiran More had trained Sushant for MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, while Asha Negi was a part of Pavitra Rishta. Though she had joined the cast after Rajput’s exit from the show. Here’s what they have to say:
Manoj Bajpayee
Just now when you asked me about him in the past tense, it suddenly struck me that he is no more with us. But I still can’t believe that he is no longer with us. While shooting for Sonchiriya, we used to party together and he was quite interested in looking at the stars and the planets. He had an expensive telescope which he was carrying with him, and even used to make us look at the stars, and would explain about the galaxy and the planets. That’s my fond memory about him.
Kiran More
I remember we were practising for Dhoni’s Helicopter shot, and we tried for 14 days but he wasn’t getting it. However, on the day he did, he was like a small baby and was so excited. I had presented him with BCCI’s Team India jacket, Sushant was so passionate about it and had even worn it a couple of times. And had tweeted a photo of him wearing the jersey too. Sushant was a very good student and extremely hardworking. In fact, the hard work he put in for MS Dhoni: The Untold Story was unbelievable. He indeed was the perfect Dhoni.
Remo D'souza
There are lots of memories of him. He was very energetic and a very hardworking guy. We knew that he was going to go really big. I remember when he had come to my show Dance Plus, he had said that he wanted to do a dance film. I said 'yes of course, let me finish this and we will do a dance film'. That was the last memory I have with him.
Asha Negi
I have not really worked with him much, because I remember when we had joined Pavitra Rishta he had already quit the show, and there was Hiten (Hiten Tejwani) sir playing Manav’s character. But whatever I remember - I remember him coming to the sets and I remember a couple of times we going to Ankita’s (Ankita Lokhande) house. He was a very intelligent guy and everybody knows that. I mean I was not very close to him so I can’t say much - but a very intelligent guy, very humble and very talented is what I can say.
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