Sushant Singh Rajput on having the time of his life just pursuing acting and doing little else
Upala KBR (DNA; December 16, 2016)

Sushant Singh Rajput has had a good year. And at the outset, it does seem that the success of his last release MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and the money and fame that came with it, has come with its own problems. The actor has often been spotted walking with four bodyguards at Taj Lands End hotel in Bandra where he works out. Not even Shah Rukh Khan has that big an entourage. But the young actor brushes off the allegation with an explanation and we proceed with our chat. Here’s what he had to say about fame, success and its after-effects...

Walking with four bodyguards may make people think you have become too big for your boots...
It’s not four. I just have one… I always had a guy to help me and one day he suddenly decided to wear a security uniform. Maybe someone saw me with Ranbir (Kapoor) as he also has his bodyguard and may have assumed them to be mine. Mine has been with me from the time I started acting in films. I am a very careless person and keep forgetting things in my gym and he takes care of that.

People feel that you suffer from claustrophobia. That you feel threatened when suddenly surrounded by people and lose your cool. That you’ve hired bodyguards to avoid awkward situations...
I am an actor, I’m surrounded by people most of the time and I can’t let that disturb me. Yes, I used to suffer from claustrophobia, but that was much earlier — a phase which happened before I joined films. I used to have this fear of closed spaces, like if I got stuck in an elevator... that used to happen. Then one day, I sat myself down and because I had studied engineering, I knew about the theory of relativity and the laws of physics. I analysed my fear logically for a few days and then, I got over it. I have not felt like that since I joined films.

Ever feel that you got success too soon?
I don’t understand what defines success… People say that I am lucky, but that’s their headache. I think if you are good at your work, you enjoy the walk, that’s it. If you take out a million from my account, I won’t know and don’t care. If you put in money too, I won’t know. I feel that no amount of fame, recognition and money compensate for the passion that I have for my craft. In school, we had to draw a graph of money and fame and I realised that when you don’t have money it ends up being a differentiator. A small amount of money and fame can buy you a lot, but the more you earn after that, gets you only that little, not more.”

Stars often complain that success makes them lonely.
Success, failure and things in-between can never make you lonely. People feel if they are successful, their problems will be resolved, but it doesn’t happen like that. It’s actually the opposite. It only brings insecurities and more problems. It’s only when you don’t care about success but just look towards a direction to go forward and don’t care what people say, that you won’t feel lonely. If people say I am successful, that’s the headache of my PR agency. I love my work and this is how I look at it… Whether I lose or win the game I don’t care, what matters is that I get to pursue my acting. That’s my incentive and hence it can never get lonely!

Do you still feel like an outsider?
If I feel like one, it is because I am one — it has nothing to do with the people here. They make me feel like an insider. I cannot complain of favouritism because all the films I have done till now and all I will be doing in the future are not the best offered to me, but the best offered to me at that time. I have no qualms as I am getting to do all the films that I want. Irrespective of the situation, I would still do those films, so I can’t say I have been treated as an outsider. Having said that I will add that nepotism very much exists in Bollywood... If you are an insider, your success gets multiplied by 10 and failure gets divided much less but if you are an outsider, it’s the opposite. They are willing to forget it once you are a successful insider. But I don’t think it affects you over a period of time. Mr Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan were outsiders once, but over a period of time, they were accepted completely into the film industry. Ultimately it’s about your love and appreciation of what you do.

Ranveer Singh and you started out in YRF at the same time, but today people perceive you as competitors. What about you?
Of course not! I don’t compete with anybody, not even myself. I have little experience in anything and I genuinely mean that. I am like a curious child with that glint in his eyes… I don’t have to prove a point to anybody. I am having the time of my life experiencing different things I have never experienced before.”

What’s next?
I am prepping for a play and then I start prepping for my next with Tarun Mansukhani. Mid-2017 begins my space film Chandamama Door Ke with Sanjay Singh Chauhan. It’s my first space film and he has given me lots of research to do — lots of books on astronomy and aeronautics and many docus to watch. He has done his homework.