On Sunday, June 14, Sushant Singh Rajput, passed away at the age of 34. He was found dead at his residence in Mount Blanc Apartment on Cartar road in Bandra, Mumbai. The city police, in its initial investigation, has ruled out any foul play and has said that the actor has committed suicide.

Rajput, was a National Olympiad winner in physics, a drop-out of Delhi College of Engineering, and then what we know him best for, a phenomenal actor, dancer, and entrepreneur.

Born in Patna, Rajput moved to Delhi with his family after his mother’s death in 2002, which utterly devastated him. But he found his calling in life when he enrolled in Shiamak Davar’s dance classes, thereby participating in several theatre and dance events.

As luck would have it, his passion took him places, and there was no turning back when he dropped out of college when he was in his third year. When he landed in Mumbai, the city of dreams, he stuck with theatre groups and did few commercials, which were his baby steps to reaching his bigger goals.

Soon he had become a known face when he grabbed a role in Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji telefilms. Sushant’s popularity sky rocketed with his daily soap called ‘Pavitra Rishta’ where Manav was every household favourite. Perhaps, this was just the beginning of this astrophysicist, who talked about galaxy and various elements of universe very fondly. This love was very evident with the presence of an advanced telescope in his balcony which was captured in an image instagrammed by Sushant himself.

His first break in Bollywood was with the movie Kai Po Che, a buddy drama in the year 2013.

The debutant was so impressive that he received a Filmfare Award nomination for best male debut. Followed by Shuddh Desi Romance, PK, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, in the year 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively.

And then came what made Sushant know across more than 61 countries, the release of M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story.

A biographical sports film based on the life of former Test, ODI and T20I captain of the Indian national cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film was a critical and commercial success.

Thereafter, he was seen in films like Raabta, Kedarnath, Sonchiriya and Chhichhore in main leads. The last role before his untimely demise was Netflix release Drive. This year his work was awaited in Dil Bechara, a Hindi language romantic drama based on John Green’s novel The Fault in Our Stars, making the last film of Sushant Singh Rajput as its lead actor.

Remarks about how humble and full of life Sushant was, have been pouring from not only the Indian television and film fraternity but everyone who had interacted with him even once.

Sushant is survived by his father Krishna Kumar Singh and two sisters Mitu Singh, Shweta Singh Kirti. His last rites were concluded at Pawan Hans crematorium, Vile Parle, on Monday June 15, and was attended by family members and film fraternity including Rajkummar Rao, Rhea Chakraborty, Kriti Sanon, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma and Vivek Oberoi.

Helplines

Helplines and local mental health service booklet Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor

• Lifeline 0800 543 354 or 09 522 2999 or free text 4357 (HELP)

• Suicide Prevention Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOK0)

• Youthline 0800 376 633 or free text 234

• Samaritans 0800 726 666.

-Vritti Parasher