Tracing Sushant Singh Rajput's four ambitious projects, including Chanda Mama Door Ke, that faced roadblocks in the past few months and their way forward
Uma Ramasubramanian, Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; June 17, 2020)

With Chhichhore setting the cash register ringing last year, one would have expected Sushant Singh Rajput to ride the wave of success. However, trade data shows that four of his projects, which were in the pipeline, hit hurdles.

The announcement of Rajput's Chandamama Door Ke had garnered much excitement, with the leading man even undergoing training at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2017. However, the Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan-directed film was in a limbo for three years due to its high cost. "The sci-fi film was to be mounted on a budget of over Rs 100 crore. Sushant, the director and producer Viki Rajani were seeking investors till late last year. But the movie was indefinitely pushed because of their inability to raise the required investment," says a source close to the project.

Rajput's hopes of collaborating with Shekhar Kapur were also dashed. Their labour of love, Paani, was shelved after three years of discussion and intense prep. Kapur recounted in a live chat on Monday, "When the film was shelved, he cried a lot. I cried too…The producers said, 'We will not make Paani with Sushant. Paani will not be made.' I should have tried to make another film with him, which I didn't. I left India as I was upset."

Rifleman was among the last movies the actor signed. Abundantia Entertainment's project was based on Mahavir Chakra awardee Jaswant Singh Rawat. The film ran into legal trouble last year when the makers of 72 Hours: Martyr Who Never Died claimed they had the original rights for the biopic.

A source close to the studio informs, "We were awaiting legal clearance. The film was merely postponed and would have resumed at some point."

Curious to explore different forms of storytelling, Rajput had also announced a 12-part series about Indian geniuses to be backed by Innsaei Ventures, a content-generating platform launched by the actor with business partner Varun Mathur. "The series was to study the Indian legends Chanakya and APJ Abdul Kalam, among others. Given its vast material, the project was in development over the past two years. However, rumours abound that the series now stands cancelled," says an insider.

As reported by mid-day earlier, Ship of Theseus director Anand Gandhi was in talks with Rajput for his next project, Emergency. The ambitious nature of the movie, which revolves around a pandemic, meant that the development of the script took longer than usual. "In Emergency, Sushant was to play an anthropologist, a human culture scientist. He was deeply engaged with the material since its inception. We had also discussed my web series, Saheli. He was to play a lawyer in the project," reveals Gandhi.

The filmmaker adds that besides the two projects that are currently in the scripting stage, documentary filmmaker Khushboo Ranka had developed a sci-fi film keeping Rajput in mind. "He was to play an astronaut in it. It's too early to discuss how we will take these projects ahead; Sushant was deeply connected with these scripts," adds Gandhi.


Sushant Singh Rajput at NASA in 2017

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; January 17, 2019)

Sushant Singh Rajput has announced his next project. While the actor had earlier said in an interview that he has okayed as many as 12 films, he thought it would be perfect to make the news of this one official on the occasion of Army Day. Titled Rifleman, the film is said to be the story of a lone braveheart who loses his life while protecting the country at the border, from the enemy’s advancing army. The makers haven’t divulged any further details on the same.

However, we have found out what the film is about. It’s yet another biopic for Sushant after M S Dhoni - The Untold Story. The movie is based on the life of Jaswant Singh Rawat, the famous Indian rifleman who valiantly fought the Chinese army for over 72 hours alone at the Arunachal Pradesh border during the 1962 Indo-China war. Rawat also received the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for going up against 300 enemy soldiers all by himself.

The Kedarnath actor was interested in telling his story from the very beginning. Our source says, “This film has been in the works for quite some time. Sushant has been silently researching on the man and finally, now, they are putting everything in place. It’s expected to go on floors after he wraps up pending work on his other two films — Kizie Aur Manny and Chhichhore. It is being readied for a late 2019 release.”This also means that Sushant is most likely to have five releases this year. He begins the year with Sonchiriya, followed by Drive and has Mukesh Chhabra and Nitesh Tiwary’s directorial ventures lined up as well.