Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput commits suicide

Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput who became famous for his portrayal of cricket star MS Dhoni on the silver screen committed suicide on June 14. Mumbai police rep, Pranaya Ashok told AFP that the 34-year-old had committed suicide and that the police found his body at his home on Sunday afternoon. The late actor is known for several hits on the big and small screens and he was said to have battled depression.

Just a few days ago, his former manager Disha Salian passed on. Rajput’s management team released a statement saying that it pained them to share that Sushant Singh Rajput is no longer with them. The company requests that his fans keep the actor in their thoughts and celebrate his life and his work.

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan tweeted that he will miss the late actor and he accompanied the tweet with a selfie of him with Rajput. He added that he will miss the deceased actor’s energy, enthusiasm and his happy smile.

Akshay Kumar tweeted that he was shocked and speechless. He also said that Rajput was a talented actor and may God give strength to his family. In April, two other prominent figures lost their lives, Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. At the start of this month, Wajid Khan who is one of the top composers of Bollywood dance songs died at the age of 42 after getting the coronavirus. A week ago, famous filmmaker Basu Chatterjee died at the age of 90.

Rajput was born in Patna in the eastern state of Bihar. He quit his engineering studies to pursue acting and dance. In 2013 he got his big break in Bollywood with Kai Po Che which is a movie about cricket, romance and politics and it won acclaim at the Berlin film festival. Last year he acted in comedy-drama Chhichhore and action movie Drive. In 2016, Rajput shared with AFP that he went through an emotional rollercoaster while filming the biopic of Indian cricket hero Dhoni, M S Dhoni: The Untold Story, which included retelling the death of the ex-skipper’s former girlfriend.

“It was very difficult because, after we did the preparation, in my head I was him and everything that was happening was actually affecting me,” he said.