Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; August 12, 2020)

Content with the positive response his debut directorial Dil Bechara has been garnering, Mukesh Chhabra misses having late actor Sushant Singh Rajput by his side to celebrate. Dil Bechara, a remake of the Hollywood film The Fault In Our Stars (2014), was Rajput’s last film. Chhabra had revealed that Rajput was excited about the film and kept his promise to be a part of his directorial debut.

“Sushant would have been really happy. Everything he did, he did to make people happy and bring a smile on their faces. I think he would have been really proud… I can’t stop thinking how different and meaningful it would be with him around. I miss his smile and his pure soul. I miss calling him brother a lot,” says Chhabra. “People are saying lovely things about the film. Be it the on-point portrayal of characters, their emotional journey, and the honesty of the film,” adds Chhabra.

Those who had known Rajput closely have mostly spoke about his happy-go-lucky nature, siding reports of him showing any signs of being stressed or depressed. Chhabra affirms the thought saying, “Sushant was always such a happy guy. No one would ever even imagine such things about him. He was always playful and so energetic on set.” On whether Rajput ever mentioned about anything bothering him or behaved in a certain way, Chhapra replies, “No, he didn’t but like I said, he was always playful and energetic whenever we met.” Ask him about the ongoing investigation into Rajput’s death case and Chhabra says not much except, “everything is going as per law”.

Meanwhile, he is occupied with his upcoming work. Given the current crisis, he is trying his best to progress as much possible. “I’m learning to live with the new normal and approaching each day and each project as it comes,” he says, without divulging details about his next projects.