Avijit Ghosh (THE TIMES OF INDIA; June 15, 2020)

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who brought a riveting vitality to his performances in films like ‘Kai Po Che’, ‘M S Dhoni - The Untold Story’ and ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’, was found dead at his Bandra residence on Sunday. The 34-year-old actor’s Bollywood career barely stretched to seven years. But his impact and imprint were distinct, even as a person. In a tweet, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan recalled his support during Kerala floods.

A highlight of Sushant’s acting career was the way he recreated the MS Dhoni persona for the 2016 biopic. The former cricket captain is one of the most ‘watched’ Indians in the country. Unable to reproduce the same gait or style of play would have made the performance feel hollow. But Sushant rose to the challenge.

Dhoni’s railway colleague Deepak Singh, who spent several days with Sushant during the film’s shooting at Kharagpur, was gobsmacked by what he saw. “The way he was emulating every mannerism of Dhoni, right from his batting stance, the helicopter shot and running between the wickets…he was a perfectionist,” he recalled.

Sushant also impressed with his interpretation of Bengali writer Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s detective protagonist, Byomkesh Bakshy. To prepare for the part, he would move incognito from Lalbazar to China Town to Bosepukur in Kolkata. Those involved with the project remember how he would drop at a roadside tea stall and observe how “Bengalis loved to sit cross-legged with the right leg perched atop the left one”.

Director Arindam Sil, who was the film’s line producer, said, “Initially, I wasn’t too convinced because of his height and smallish face. But (director) Dibakar (Banerjee) asked me to wait and see how he looks like the character…He fit into the character so well.”

Three more roles stand out in his short career: Sarfaraz, the intense Pakistani lover of an Indian girl, in the Aamir Khan blockbuster ‘PK’; the sacrificing Muslim porter of ‘Kedarnath’, and the father in ‘Chhichhore’ (2019), who redefines the idea of a winner to his son and brings him back from the brink.

Yet a career in cinema wasn’t his first choice. A bright student from Patna’s St Karen’s High School — he won a national physics Olympiad contest — he was ranked 7th in AIEEE. An astronomy enthusiast, he took admission in Delhi College of Engineering in 2003.

Chunnu Singh, a cousin, said the family settled in Delhi after the death of his mother in Patna in 2002. “His father Kamal Kishore Singh, a retired government employee, stayed with Sushant in Delhi when he went there for higher studies,” he said. But Sushant never finished the course. He first joined Shiamak Davar’s dance troupe and later Barry John’s drama classes. Success in television came in the role of a mechanic in ‘Pavitra Rishta’. His energy was more noticeable in dance shows like ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’, which paved the path for Bollywood.

On the Bollywood firmament, Sushant flashed like a meteor. He had so much more to offer.

(Inputs from Mohua Das in Mumbai, Ramashankar & Faryal Rumi in Patna, Amaghna Banerjee & Sujay Khanra in Kolkata & Kharagpur, Priyanka Dasgupta)