Sushant Singh Rajput, the self-made actor untouched by stardom: What he said about nepotism, Bollywood clubs

On his career, and box office 

Sushant became a revered enigma for his fans, owing to his deep philosophical beliefs on success and the box office, mixed with his trademark sense of humour.  Outwardly, he maintained a nonchalant stance about the box office; he would say that if Friday didn’t see a good opening for his film, he would ‘be fine’ by Monday. “Friday kuch bhi ho, Monday ko main theek ho jaata hu. Mera Monday motivaion barkarar rehta hai. Mujhe zyada darr nahi lagta kisi cheez se,” he once said airily to India Today. 

He enjoyed a challenge——a role that could potentially backfire was thrilling. “I take up roles that I feel I would fail in and then it becomes like a challenge for me to outdo myself. My philosophy of success in life is to find different ways of failing, I would fail three to four times but the fifth time when I succeed it would be my personal experience, it would help me emerge as a person,” he once told IANS.  Sushant’s career trajectory showed that he traversed a wide range of roles—-be it romantic comedies like Shuddh Desi Romance, MS Dhoni biopic that showed that he was here to stay, the natural disaster drama Kedarnath and the brutal dacoit film, Sonchiriya.  He had the hits and the misses, but his performance was always praised. Each time, he delved into the character each time and left Sushant behind—-a victory in itself. 

A self-made actor, he had also addressed the burning issue of nepotism in a neutral light, which is ironic, considering the wave of hatred that burst forth after his death towards star-kids. He acknowledged its presence, saying, “Nepotism is there, it’s everywhere, not just in Bollywood. You can’t do anything about it. Nepotism can co-exist and nothing would happen but at the same time, if you deliberately don’t allow the right talent to come up, then there is a problem. Then the whole structure of the industry would collapse one day. But till then, it’s fine.” He also added, “Nepotism can co-exist with all the talented people also and you will get wonderful films because then they will be competing with each other and that would raise the performance.” He laughed off the idea of Bollywood camps—-maintaining that he didn’t know they existed. “There are camps, I didn’t know? Nobody told me. Clearly, I am not important enough.”

Yet, he said that he knew how to survive in the industry, and was vocally confident about his craft.  “There are many number of correct things to do and they change. But there is one correct thing that stays correct all the time: If you happen to do your job properly and professionally, you take less time to add more value, you will be hired no matter you are an ally or not. This is what it is and this is why I have survived, not that I was intending to survive. But I have because I do my job very well. When I do it, I am nowhere else–presence over productivity.” 

Sushant always said that he would have a plan if films didn’t work out. He made it clear that failure or success didn’t determine his worth. He was even ready to make his films if nothing panned out as according to plan—-and he promised that he would be just as excited as he was about the current phase of his career. ”When I quit television, people told me, you are doing a filmmaking course but what if you don’t get a film? I said, ‘I will make my own films’. I had decided that if that happens, I will start a canteen in Film City and I will buy a camera and make my own short film about the canteen and feature in it too. And I know I would be as excited about that as I am right now,” he once said. 

His passion for the stars

Sushant, literally reached for the stars. The actor had often expressed his love for astronomy, something that came to light weeks after his passing. Fans recounted his passion for the stars, his hunger for complicated equations that found their way to t-shirts, and dug up his Instagram posts where he shared photos of celestial objects. He enjoyed prodding the intricacies of outer space, and pondered over the mysteries of the unknown. In an interview with Asian Paints in 2018, Sushant took fans for a tour through his home where his walls were complete with the moon-landing photograph, phases of the moon, and space missions. Space Shuttles decorated his table, and he even had a uniform made for himself during his visit to NASA. 

The actor said that it was childhood dream to become an astronaut and work at NASA. He even bought a telescope for himself and would enjoy the view of space and satellites. In 2019 April, he posted a photo of the training that he had taken at USSRC. Sharing the video, Sushant had written, “#Mytraining@USSRC.Nasa ! “The hatch that opens to the dreams, that which makes you week in the knees(at least 1/6 times:), and then even metaphorically, make you feel over the moon. ——— #Apollo #Lunarmodule #commandmodule #training #astronony #passion #AncientDreams.” He had even sent two children to NASA, and planned to send 100 more kids to the space research organisation in the US.

Sushant had also dreams about going to the moon. He once said, “I had done a workshop at NASA when I went there two years ago. Those who trained me had said that if I continued for a few more weeks, I would have received a certificate of instructor. So, now, I am planning to go to Houston to complete the training. It consists of everything that you need to know about going to space, including sitting in the centrifuge.” He added, “NASA plans to send astronauts on the Moon by 2024. I am planning to prepare myself for it, in case I get lucky.”

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