Sushant Singh Rajput's death has only added to the outrage over the whole discussion around nepotism and insiders vs outsiders. Thousands of fans are alleging how the Kai Po Che actor was ill-treatment and ousted by certain bigshots of Bollywood. However, Anurag Kashyap's interview with NDTV gives a whole new angle to this plot. During his conversation, the filmmaker went onto claim how Sushant ditched his projects not once, but twice and more, to work with the big banners of Bollywood like Dharma Productions and YRF, as he wanted their validation. Anurag Kashyap reveals approaching Sushant for Hasee Toh Phasee but he went ahead with Yash Raj Films instead.
Anurag stated how he met Sushant in his office, where Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) used to sit. "Mukesh Chhabra used to operate from my office. Sushant aaya, maine kaha, ‘Yaar, tu Bihar ka ladka hai. Mujhe pehle milta toh main tujhe film mein kaam de deta (When Sushant came to meet him, I said, ‘Oh, you are from Bihar. If I had met you earlier, I would have given you a role in the film)'," said Anurag. He added that he further approached Sushant for Hasee Toh Phasee alongside Parineeti but he ended up signing a three-film deal with YRF instead and then Sidharth Malhotra came into the picture.
Anurag said, "YRF called him and said, ‘We’ll give you a deal. You do Shuddh Desi Romance.’ Sushant, who used to sit in my office with Mukesh and all of us used to sit together, signed up with YRF and dropped Hasee Toh Phasee, a film of an outsider because usko validation YRF ka chahiye tha (he wanted validation from YRF). It’s with every actor, so I am not holding any grudges."
He then offered another film to Sushant but that didn't work either. "Years later, in 2016, before the release of MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Mukesh went to Sushant and said, ‘Anurag has written a script looking for an actor who can play someone based out of Uttar Pradesh.’ Dhoni released, became a success and he never called me back. I was not upset, I moved on, I did Mukkabaaz,” added the filmmaker.
He concluded, "That validation you are seeking, and one can’t blame you. It’s a choice you have made but you also have to deal with this. The boy was very talented but at that time, he chose Drive over a film that I was doing because he was dying to work with Dharma."
image source: APH