Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 3, 2020)

He was a part of Sushant Singh Rajput’s innermost circle of people, who held a special place in the actor’s life and were a part of his dream projects. In the light of the recent turn of events in the SSR case, Samuel Haokip spoke to BT about the man he knew and admired. Excerpts:

After Rhea Chakraborty’s TV interviews, a Thailand trip is being spoken about where Sushant apparently spent about Rs. 70 lakh…
I didn’t go on that one, but there were seven people who went. Kushal (Zaveri), Siddhant Gupta, Sara Ali Khan, Sushant, Abbas, Mushtaq and Sabir Ahmed. But I have travelled with Sushant to Paris for Dil Bechara and it was amazing. On set, he would keep himself aligned to the thought of the film, which was about a guy struggling with a serious disease. Otherwise, he was happy to have fun. He booked us in another accommodation on the outskirts of Paris, so he could just roam around and chill.

In the last few days, two things have come to the fore — one has to do with Sandip Ssingh, who claimed to be a really close friend, and was at the forefront handling Sushant’s final rites. The other is about Sushant consuming drugs, which has got the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) involved...
I left in June 2019 and till then, Sushant had nothing to do with drugs. We had multiple parties at home with cigarettes and alcohol. We were staying with Sushant. He could fool us once, but not every single day. If he hid and did something, we were not fools to not understand the evident and sudden change in behaviour. As for Sandip, I had never heard Sushant mentioning him. Neither was he ever at the house during that period. In fact, I was not just home, but also with Sushant on his sets, sometimes two shifts in a day. He never mentioned this man. So, when I saw a lot of media speaking about Sandip, I thought maybe he was an old friend.

After Rhea’s interview, people have aligned themselves on either side, throwing open threads of Sushant’s private life. Even the #MeToo allegations levelled against him are back in the headlines. What are your views on this?
The whole nation, and so many groups from different countries are asking for a fair and transparent investigation into his untimely demise. I hope everything comes out. The whole #MeToo controversy affected Sushant. It all started from there, all of us in the team feel so. How difficult it must have been for him to handle the negative reactions, trolling on social media and the evident dislike...

What do you feel about Rhea’s interviews?
I felt she was not asked some important questions. He had done an interview in which he was talking about being in a closed space, where he could stay 25 minutes more than the others. I also have my own experience, as I’ve travelled with him a lot.

Did you stay in touch with Sushant after you left Capri Heights?
No, I didn’t. We spoke just once after that. In January this year, I tried contacting him. I had been with him for a while, so I knew he could be caught up. I sent a message but it had one tick, meaning he had changed his number. I sent the same message to Rhea. She didn’t reply either. I dropped it there.

After Rhea Chakraborty stated that Sushant Singh Rajput liked to live the good life, late actor's friend Samuel Haokip reveals details of the Thailand vacation with Sara Ali Khan
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; August 29, 2020)

Over a month since Sushant Singh Rajput's father filed a First Information Report (FIR) against the late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and five others in Patna, the actor broke her silence on Thursday, offering a counter-narrative to the Rajput family's claims. Chakraborty — who has been accused of living off Rajput's money by the family, with their Italy trip in October 2019 coming sharply into focus — revealed that it was not unusual of the late actor to splurge on vacations. She also claimed how the late actor had spent Rs 70 lakh when he had taken six of his friends to Thailand in the last week of December 2018.

Speaking to mid-day, Samuel Haokip — who lived with the late actor between October 2018 and July 2019 — revealed details of the holiday that saw Rajput take friends Siddharth Gupta, Kushal Zaveri, Abbas, bodyguard Mushtaq and spot Sabbir Ahmed to Thailand. According to Haokip, the actor's Kedarnath co-star and then-rumoured girlfriend Sara Ali Khan too was part of the vacation. "I was supposed to go as well, but had to skip the trip because of personal reasons. To ring in the New Year, Sushant had chartered a private jet. It was also his bodyguard Mushtaq's dream to travel in a private jet," said Haokip.

Highlighting Rajput's benevolent side, Haokip said that the late actor often used his financial success to help others fulfil their dreams. "He was thrilled about our achievements. He once booked a 230-seater auditorium at IMAX for the screening of Kedarnath for us. But he always [planned his expenditures] depending on how comfortable he would be in the next six months."

In her interview, Chakraborty stated that Rajput took Modafinil before flying to alleviate his claustrophobia. However, Haokip refuted the claim, saying, "I have travelled with him so many times. I don't remember Sushant taking any pills before the flights. If he was claustrophobic, he would panic in the air. But Sushant would read, listen to music, and order everything on the menu. Till the time I was there, he never took any chemical drugs."