Sushant Singh Rajput could not handle the politics of becoming a star, says Manoj Bajpayee: ‘He told me about his challenges’

While talking about politics in the film industry, Manoj Bajpayee cautioned outsiders to not spend their time discussing nepotism and rather work on their craft. He said Sushant Singh Rajput had discussed the challenges he faced.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | May 22, 2023 11:30 AM IST

3 min read

Manoj Bajpayee and Sushant Singh Rajput in Sonchirya.

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Manoj Bajpayee opened up about nepotism and losing Sushant Singh Rajput, in a recent interview. The National Award-winning actor is promoting his film Bandaa, where he plays a lawyer fighting a rape case against a Godman. Bajpayee shared that nepotism has always existed in the film industry and everywhere. He also cautioned outsiders to not take this at heart and rather utilise their energy in polishing their craft.

In an interview with Aaj Tak, the actor said that he was never affected by nepotism as no star kid would do the kind of films he does. “Nawaz karega, Irrfan hota toh woh karta ya Kaykay Menon karega. These are not commercial films so nobody focuses on them or even puts their money on them. I must thus add that you cannot make this an excuse all the time. Don’t waste your energy. Do theatre, if you are a good actor, you can even earn money by performing on the street.”

The host then quizzed about the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, which fired up the nepotism conversation around. Sharing that he was personally very affected by his death, the actor recalled the time they shared during the shoot of Sonchiriya. “We really became close and he had so much love for me. I would often cook mutton on set and he would always come by to eat. We never knew he would take such a drastic step but he had opened up about his challenges to me,” Bajpayee shared.

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He added that Sushant somewhere could not handle the politics and groupism in the industry. He added that as one grows in their career, the competition gets tougher, and there are issues at hand. “Industry mein politics humesha hota hai but it gets dirtier as you climb the ladder of success. I never had an issue as I was stubborn and thick-skinned. He wasn’t and thus could not manage the pressure. He had spoken to me about being worried about these things as it affected him.”

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When the host cross-questioned that Sushant was a victim of nepotism, he dismissed it to say that he wanted a very different career for him. “If you want to be a Manoj Bajpayee, there is no politics. But he wanted to be a star and there’s too much competition there. Anyone who enters the field to be a star would try their best to clinch that position. However, he couldn’t bear the same. I have realised that he was a pure soul and andar se baccha tha (was a kid at heart). He could not understand the manipulation that was needed.”

As readers would remember, Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his house in June, 2020.

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