Sushant Singh Rajput's last rites are done. The actor committed suicide yesterday at his Bandra residence. He was said to be battling depression past 6 months. While many are expressing their disbelief and shock over this extremely sad incident, we contacted the late actor's Pavitra Rishta co-star, Pankaj Vishnu, who played the antagonist in the show.
Excerpts from the conversation:
What kind of bond did you have with Sushant Singh Rajput?
Sushant and I were close during the filming of Pavitra Rishta. I am also an engineer and he also came from Imperial College of Engineering, so we bonded really well due to that. He was the hero and I was the villain but we were really good friends off-screen. We shot for many scenes together. So, we have had some great moments, which I will cherish forever.
What kind of co-star was he?
He was an extremely hard working person. I remember while doing Pavitra Rishta, he had participated in Jhalak Dikhlaja and for the longest time he didn't sleep properly. Because he used to complete his 12 hours shift, go for rehearsals, reach home late night and then again at 6 in the morning, he used to go for his martial art classes and come back to our sets. He had worked really hard to make it big.
How was he as a person?
He was an introvert and was choosy about making friends. But he used to like parties, so there have been a lot of times, when we partied hard in his Lokhandwala apartment. We also did a few pool parties. He was a great guy to be around.
He always dreamt to make it big in Bollywood?
Not just that, he had a long wishlist. He used to always discuss those with me.
What kind of wishlist?
He dreamt of the big screen, working with big and talented directors he wanted to work with. He wanted to go to Nasa, wanted to adopt child education, he wanted to run in an Iron Man competition in the US and he was preparing for that. He wanted to visit his hometown. And then one interesting thing he wanted to do is learn to write from his left hand and bowl from his left hand. He always wanted to do things out of the box. He had a craze of being different. At the same time he wanted to contribute to society. If you all remember, he donated Rs 1.25 crore for floods.
Did stardom ever get in his head after he made it big in Bollywood?
Never! He was a humble person- the way he was before and probably that's why the whole Pavitra Rishta team used to feel proud seeing his success In Bollywood.
He was a well-read person. Even when he used to shoot for the show, he had a separate room and whenever you entered that space, you could just see books all around. He also used to watch films and documentaries a lot. He was always interested in astronomy. The only shopping he enjoyed was of books. He had a few favourite book shops also in Malad and one in Andheri.
Were you guys in touch right now?
For the last one and half years, we were not in touch as we got busy with lives and he was engaged in many films. But the last meeting I had with him is extremely memorable. I remember around 2 years back, I was passing through Lokhandwala backroad and he was in his car. He saw me, waved to me and stopped his car in the middle of the road and came to hug me. People passing by started honking and then he realised the car was not properly parked. So, he parked the car and we had some fun conversation. Meanwhile, his fans gathered and started asking for a selfie. He didn't disappoint them obviously. He was really very happy that day. I never knew it would be our last meeting.
Any special memory of him?
I remember when we used to shoot for Pavitra Rishta, he left his wallet at home and when he had a packup, he asked me if I could lend him 100 bucks. So, I dropped him half way in my car and gave him 200 bucks for the auto. And that is still pending on him.
Image Source: pinterest,instagram/pankajvishnu
Image Source: pinterest,instagram/pankajvishnu