Sushant Singh Rajput on coming to terms with the rumour mills and why he is building a base for himself which is a few hours’ drive from Mumbai
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 29, 2018)

It was a working birthday for Sushant Singh Rajput, who turned 32 on January 21, and that’s just the way he had planned it. “The idea of having a great birthday is to do what you like and I like acting. So, this year, I gifted myself the opportunity to shoot with a director I’ve always wanted to work with,” exults the actor, who is currently in Chambal filming Abhishek Chaubey’s untitled dacoit drama.

Prod him on whether he is concerned for his safety in the dreaded ravines and Sushant informs that he is far from apprehensive. “According to a recent survey, a man on his way to office in a busy city can die from at least 1000 different reasons. That’s reason enough for me to take one big risk for a great script,” he says with a laugh.

Okay, so he’s one fearless hero but what if he was abducted? What would, according to him, the reallife dakus demand as ransom? “My job probably, but they won’t get it. It’s taken a lot of effort to reach where I am today from where I was and I’m not going to let it go,” Sushant says fiercely.

Abhishek Chaubey, who has previously made films like Dedh Ishqiya and Udta Punjab, is known to be a perfectionist. While his leading man will not be drawn into discussing his prep as he’s yet to see if it is effective as is or needs more work, Sushant shares that according to him the most important job of an actor is to first convince himself that he is the character. And that’s one of the things he likes about Bhumi Pedneker, his co-star and fellow dacoit in the film. According to Sushant, Bhumi is a terrific actor who works incessantly on character-building. No wonder, then, that he is quite gung-ho about sharing screen space with her. “I’m a fan of anyone who works this way. We discuss many things, I observe and learn from how she does what she does,” he explains.

Before this, Sushant was shooting with another Abhishek— Abhishek Kapoor—for Kedarnath, which reportedly revolves around a Hindu-Muslim couple caught in a crisis in the temple town. In the time of love jihad, isn’t he afraid the film might run into controversy closer to its release for its communal undertones? “Most of our films emphasise on unity rather than divisiveness, ditto Kedarnath. Yes, today, we have come to fear many things, but these fears should not come in the way of us doing what we like,” Sushant asserts.

After two schedules, shooting on the film has come to an abrupt halt and if rumours are to be believed, Abhishek Kapoor is making changes to the script. True? “Absolutely not!” he retorts. “Most of the film is complete, only a small but very important chunk remains to be shot for which extensive preparation is required, hence the break.”

Next up is the adaptation of John Green’s 2012 bestselling novel The Fault In Our Stars that revolvs around a cancer patient who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she meets and falls in love with another cancer patient. The male protagonist is wheelchair-bound. Recently, Kalki Koechlin had revealed that for Margarita With A Straw she had roamed in a wheelchair for a month as part of her prep. What kind of efforts will he put in given his dedication to the craft? “There are degrees to which an actor can dig into a character but the bottom line is convincing yourself that you’re the character which is the first major step in convincing the audience,” he reiterates.

Many names, including that of Varun Dhawan and Aditya Roy Kapur, were doing the rounds to play the leading man. Did he worry about them landing the coveted part? “My life is very close to Alice In Wonderland. I’m curious about a lot of things but since acting is the most exciting, I invest all my time in finding a good script with a good director. After that there’s no time to think about anything else,” he smiles.

Meanwhile, he’s raced to the finish with Tarun Mansukhani’s action-thriller Drive. What’s delaying the release of the Karan Johar production? “We recently shot a scene and a song, the special effects are in the works. Post production takes time,” he explains, leaving the release date to the makers. However, you have to ask if, given his love for cars and the training he underwent, he would like to drive on the racing circuit someday? “Not as a professional but yes, whenever I get time, I do race with my friends in the circuit. My next goal is to get a flying license and I’ve already started working towards it,” he beams proudly.

Sushant has also been running an education programme and recently sponsored a trip to the US Space Camp Center for two school-going students. What other plans does he have to make it beneficial to students across the country? “A recent survey found that over 60 per cent of kindergarten kids will work for and with technologies that are still not invented. So, just educating kids is not enough, what we teach them is equally important. I’m working with a handful of extremely intelligent futurists/behavioural economists on the knowledge structure of education systems,” he says proudly.

It’s been a while since he bought a new apartment. When does he plan to shift in? “I am building a place which is a few hours’ drive from Mumbai and offers me more space. I’ll have a telescope room, a gaming VR room, a library, my own park… Money cannot buy you such luxuries in the city,” he points out.

While both he and Kriti Sanon have repeatedly denied being in a relationship, they fuelled speculations by bringing in the New Year together with their Raabta producer- director Dinesh Vijan in Switzerland. “I insulate myself from the daily news and have a Teflon coating on me for the times I get to hear about them. I’m largely unaffected by any kind of news, good or bad,” he says.