Kushal Punjabi has committed suicide and this fact is not easy to digest, not for the family, not for his friends and as an outsider- not for us too. The 43-year-old actor had a beautiful family, but what was going on within the family was not known to many. We had brought the details about his depression and failed marriage, a while back. He is survived by his wife Audrey Dolhen and son, Kian.
Chetan Hansraj, Kushal's best friend, is shattered. He was the one, who went along with late actor's parents to his house to check on him, only to find out that his friend has committed suicide.
We had to make a difficult phone call to Chetan to understand what led to Kushal's shocking demise. We did and the actor took our call.
With a heavy voice, Chetan initiated the conversation by telling us how Kushal's dad called him around 3 pm and asked if he has spoken to his son as he is unable to get through him. " I made a few calls to our other friends to check but no one had spoken to Kushal."
We asked Chetan if his dad went to his son's house to check about his whereabouts, and the actor replied, "He did in the evening but thought that he must not be at home, so he went back."
After 6-7 hours, Kushal's dad called me again and said, "'Beta aaisa hua nahi hai kabhi ki woh itne der tak unreachable rahe' and that is when we took the key-maker with us to open his flat. This was around 11 pm."
When asked if they (parents and Chetan) were expecting something drastic has happened to Kushal, Chetan outright refused and broke down, "No yaar, kaise expect karega, itna strong aur full of life ladka, who would think he will take such a step? My body is shivering when I am thinking about it."
The actor then goes on to tell us that it was him who brought down Kushal's body from the ceiling fan. "We tried to revive it but the body had turned so cold that we realized it's been many hours to his death."
Ask Chetan if Kushal ever discussed his life problems with him, and he replies, "Itna details woh kabhi deta nahi tha. I knew there was something wrong but itna bhi nahi ki koi aaisa karle. I can't get over the sight. I still feel it's a movie, my mind is telling me that it's not real."
Of course, his parents are in a state of shock and distraught. While the police did not take them along to the hospital, Chetan had gone along but returned home soon to be by Kushal's parents' side. Chetan adds, "They are shattered."
Chetan concluded the call by saying, "Agar Kushal aaisa kar sakta hai, toh mujhe toh darr lag raga hai koi bhi kuch bhi kar sakta hai. You can never know what's going on in whose mind. I feel our profession is extremely frustrating at times, people should chat more with each other."
Image Source:- instagram/chetan_hansraj/ itsme_kushalpunjabi
Image Source:- instagram/chetan_hansraj/ itsme_kushalpunjabi