Adapted from John Green’s novel, ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ and directed by Mukesh Chhabra, the film will grace us with the occasion and opportunity to glance at the seminal contributions made by the late Sushant Rajput towards Indian cinema. Debuting in 2013 with Kai Po Che and giving his finest performance and presentation in films like Raabta, MS Dhoni, Kedarnath, and Chhichhore, Sushant did echo his strong opinions, views, values, and beliefs which established him as a star in seven years.
I still reminisce about his role-play of Manav Deshmukh in Pavitra Rishta where he acted opposite Ankita Lokhande who played the role of Archana in this Ekta Kapoor starrer soap opera. Encouraged and enhanced by their mutual respect, commitment, and cooperation equally with each other at every stage of their professional and personal lives from where he slowly matured and graduated into an artist and actor of his hue.
I wouldn’t want to draw any comparison but Sushant was prolifically enthusiastic and passionate with whatever fascinated him at the place. He would live up to it come what may as was told to me by a known friend of mine who is an alumnus of the famous and renowned Delhi Technological University from where Sushant was pursuing a degree in Engineering which he left in the middle for fulfilling his other aspirations and ambitions.
Mukesh Chhabra recalls his association with Sushant who agreed to be a part of his directorial debut unconditionally without bothering to visit the script beginning with the shoot somewhere around 2018 in Jamshedpur. Sushant’s s advice and aid to Sanjana was both motivating and inspiring for a newcomer in the industry being a complete alien as she regards the former in great esteem facilitated by support and show of strength.
In an industry where there is a penchant for nepotism and network, excelling in proving and outsmarting your fellow competitors is a herculean task requiring a lot of commanding and disciplined efforts especially if you are considered an outsider. Sushant was acutely mindful of this fact and consciously chose his on-screen characters, wisely depicting it to the best of his art understanding but by being highly sensitive and emotional. He travelled on the path which separated him from us forever.
Withdrawing from initiating any attempt on speaking up, his mind instead of being misled by agony, trauma, turmoil, stress, and depression for reasons beyond our analysis and assessment as at 34, he was at a position where others would have surely aspired for. Hailing from a humble middle-class background, he was a boy next door for many of the youngsters of his generation nourishing pride in associating and identifying themselves with Sushant as many videos of his Muzzafarpur visit are doing rounds on the social media. A rare genius and sensation!