Sushant Singh Rajput, one of Bollywood’s most talented young actors, died by suicide on Sunday; The 34-year-old actor was found dead in his Bandra duplex; the Crime Branch has launched a parallel probe; Sushant’s sudden death is another shock for the film industry, which is still recovering from the deaths of Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Basu Chatterjee
Vallabh Ozarkar and Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 15, 2020)

One of the sharpest inquisitive thoughts when a person in the limelight meets his end is what was the last thing on their mind. In the case of 34-year-old Sushant Singh Rajput it would be his last Instagram post where he put up a picture of his mother with a caption stating, ‘Blurred past evaporating from teardrops, unending dreams carving an arc of smile, and a fleeting life, negotiating between the two…’. These lines were being dissected and analysed through Sunday by a multitude of people – the talented star’s fans as well as colleagues in the film industry. It’s what happens when one is compelled to accept the unexpected. In his seven-year-old career in the movies, which he chose over engineering, Rajput rode the crest with films like Kai Po Che!, Shuddh Desi Romance, Detective Byomkesh Bakshi, M S Dhoni - The Untold Story, Kedarnath and Chhichhore. He had just about come into his element; and one looked forward to more. The actor allegedly died of suicide in his sixth floor residence in Mount Blanc on Carter Road, Bandra, which he shared with art designer Siddharth Pithani, on Sunday morning. He was found hanging in his bedroom by a member of his house staff. On June 9, Rajput’s former manager Disha Salian had allegedly jumped to her death from her Malad residence; it is speculated over financial matters. While an inquiry into Rajput’s death has been instituted, cops have found no connection between the two.

He woke up at 6.30 am on Sunday whereupon he was served a glass of pomegranate juice. Subsequently, he went into his bedroom. An hour later when one of the members of his staff knocked at his door wanting to enquire about the lunch menu -- he received no response. He continued the act intermittently but on receiving no response the house staff and his flat mate summoned Rajput’s sister. On her arrival, together they broke into his room to find him hanging from the ceiling with a bedsheet.

He was taken to Cooper Hospital where he was declared dead. There was no suicide note. The post-mortem report is awaited.

The Unit IX of crime branch will scrutinise Rajput’s mobile phone record. His staff – two cooks and a housekeeper who stayed in the flat – are being interrogated, along with neighbours and relatives. Rajput shifted to this rental accommodation six months ago and was supposed stay on till 2022. He was paying Rs 4.5 lakh in the rent.

A decade ago when Rajput’s then roommate and friend TV actor Manav Verma turned to him during a low patch, the actor had advised, “If you ever feel low in life, go and sit on the rocks at Versova Beach and talk to the waves gushing in and just stare into the sea.” The two began their careers with Ekjute theatre group before Rajput made his TV debut in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. The two would often go down to Andheri station in the middle of the night to share a smoke and sip on tea, when things were not so smooth. For someone “as motivated and passionate as Sushant”, Verma is yet to come to terms with the fact that his friend could resort to such extreme measures.

Fellow actor Amir Ali says Rajput’s “main aim in life was to be happy”. “He would say, ‘My career will sort itself out. If things don’t work out, I can always return to television’. And when I’d nudge him to buy a house, he’d brush me off saying, he would rather have cars and bikes instead. He had his own fundas and was happy with it,” remembers Ali.

However, recently, when Rajput’s fitness trainer of four years, Samee Ahmed, spoke to the late actor on June 1 when the actor had called to convey his condolences to Ahmed on his mother’s death, he “sounded moved because he looked up to my mom”. Rajput had then revealed, ‘I know how it feels when one loses one’s mother because my mother passed away when I was 16. It’s a terrible time but I am there if you need anything or just someone to talk to’.

Rajput was a star-gazer with a bucket list that went beyond Bollywood; he was interested in the mysteries of the universe and loved looking at the skies through his Meade 14” LX600 telescope when not working on a movie set. Last year, the actor had shared his bucket list of 50 dreams with his fans on Twitter, where among other things, he talked about visiting faraway places, painting aurora lights, writing a book and getting a selfie with his favourite star Robert Downey Jr.