Police on Monday said Sushant Singh Rajput had shown symptoms of clinical depression and was consulting a psychiatrist. (Photo: Sushant Singh Rajput/Facebook)
Tributes continue to pour in for late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Rajput died by suicide on Sunday, the Mumbai Police confirmed. He was only 34. The case is currently being investigated by police who stated that the actor suffered from depression and had sought counselling. He, however, was not taking any medication.
On Monday, Sushant’s family members were flown into Mumbai for his funeral. It took place at Vile Parle crematorium. Apart from his family and close friends, celebrities like Rhea Chakraborty, Kriti Sanon, Shraddha Kapoor, Mukesh Chhabra, Ekta Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Dinesh Vijan, Krystle D’Souza, Nupur Sanon, Varun Sharma, Abhishek Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Ranvir Shorey among others marked their attendance.
Sushant Singh Rajput was one of the few stars who had successfully transitioned from television to movies. He apparently looked up to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who also famously started his showbiz journey from TV. After hearing the news of his death, Shah Rukh took to Twitter to pay his last respects to the MS Dhoni actor. Sharing a photo of himself and Sushant, SRK tweeted, “He loved me so much…I will miss him so much. His energy, enthusiasm and his full happy smile. May Allah bless his soul and my condolences to his near and dear ones. This is extremely sad….and so shocking!!”
In a post, comedian Mallik Dua has asked her followers to not ask a couple of questions that can pressure an individual, especially from the entertainment industry, to question their self-worth. Dua wrote, "A lot of people both inside and outside the entertainment industry are coming out to offer love and advice and it's sweet. While we are at it, please do take my advice (and I know I speak for most) and stop asking entertainment professionals - "so what are you working on these days?" "I miss your old work" "so when are we seeing you on screen next?" "xyz is giving you tough competition haan" STOP doing that. You don't realise the pressure you put on them. And it's as uncomfortable for a struggler as it is for a superstar in a way only they understand, It's as bizzare as asking somebody, "teri promotion kab hogi? kab badhegi teri salary" (when will you get your promotion? when will you get a hike in salary?)" She added, "It reinforces the idea that opporunity, numbers and external validation = self worth. I think we know how harmful and grossly untrue that idea is. The next time somebody ask you what you are working on, please say, "minding my own business.""
Popular television actor Rithvik Dhanjani took to Instagram to share a video a day after Sushant Singh Rajput's death. The two were a part of the popular daily-soap Pavitra Rishta. In the video, Rithvik Dhanjani said, “It’s funny how suddenly people have realised that they are going to be there. aise zameer kaise jaag gaya? I too have been getting these messages. I don’t need it. The one who needed it didn’t have it. And somewhere we are all culprits that we couldn’t be there when we could have been.”
“Let’s all become more human. Stop judging people and start to genuinely care abouteach other,” he added.
Actor Amol Parashar on Monday took to Twitter to post a moving tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput.
He tweeted, "Young actors are shaken, including me. I can feel it in my bones and flesh, I have seen it in the eyes of the few people I have seen since yesterday, I have heard it in the voices of friends I have spoken to. Did every young actor from out of town receive a call from their family yesterday? I believe so. Whether we see it clearly or not right now, our families can see and feel from afar what this means."
The actor further wrote, "I know each one of us has fought a battle of perception before coming here. some convinced their families, some fought and rebelled, some made a promise to come back if things didn’t work out in a certain period of time. Not that any of us thought it was easier than what our families believed. It’s just that we were willing to fight these fights. You point to certain people and say ‘Look Papa, he/she did it. It’s possible’. That is an attempt to convince yourself as much as it is to convince them. In fact, your dreams and aspirations may not even be as big as some of those really famous names.
"A friend I spoke to yesterday, said that as of today, his best case scenario of where he would like to end up is maybe half of where Sushant was today. “Should I quit?” he added. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. In face of uncertainty, we cling to hope. In a profession as uncertain as this, you need sources of hope, whether from your own life or others’, whether real or imagined. Sushant was one of the “biggest” names in recent times to come from out of this town, and therefore a source of hope for similar young boys and girls, whether we were actively aware of it or not. We are now acutely aware of it as it shatters. From Bandra to Andheri, Goregaon, Malad, to Mira Road and beyond, thousands of young actors like me are sitting alone in their rooms right now wondering what this all means, trying to make sense of this strange mess of feelings and thoughts. I wish I could buy each one of them a beer, sit with them, raise a toast to Sushant, look up to the stars and tell him ‘your dream lives on bro’, in every single one of the thousands and thousands of us, and we hear you, we know what you are trying to tell us here. To not leave each other alone, to not be hard on ourselves. And to grow aware that in the end your self-worth is not about the size of your car, or the brand of your watch, or what other people think about your life and successes."
"You fought the hard fight on our behalf, right at the frontlines of ambition and hardwork, and unknowingly gave us hope on days we had run out of it. Thank you Sushant!" Amol Parashar concluded.
In a video shared by Neha Kakkar, her brother and singer Tony Kakkar paid a beautiful tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput.
After Sushant Singh Rajput's demise, the actor's cousin's wife breathed her last in Purnia, Bihar. As per a report in TimesNow.com, she could not cope up with the news of Sushant passing away.
In a series of tweets, director Hansal Mehta asked actors to not "fall for the trap" as the ones who celebrate you will "celebrate your downfall some time later."
After attending Sushant Singh Rajput's funeral on Monday, actor Vivek Oberoi wrote a heart-wrenching note and hoped that the industry does some serious introspection.
Sushant Singh Rajput will be seen for the last time in Mukesh Chhabra's first directorial Dil Bechara. After the actor's passing away, his fans have been asking the makers to release the film in theaters. "So a lot of people want DilBechara to release on big screen rather than an OTT platform hence we have decided to come together to trend something for Sushant for the last time, interested people reply to this tweet or dm me so that we can come online at a particular time and trend," @ignoreandfly wrote.
In another tweet, the user mentioned, "Sushant was an extraordinary artist who was a stronger believer of power of Cinema. Let us celebrate Sushant's work and see him on the big screen for the final time #DilBecharaOnBigScreen"
@TheAnujRadia believes an OTT release won't do justice to Sushant. "#DilBecharaOnBigScreen. It’s our final chance to watch Sushant exhibit his incredible & unsung talent on celluloid. I think he deserves that at least, an OTT release won’t do justice to him. No matter how long it takes for cinemas to re-open, I will wait for it," he wrote.
@shivangi0817 tweeted, "We'll wait. We don't want his last movie online. We'll walk to the theater, buy ourselves a ticket & watch it. We'll make his last movie blockbuster again so that it is marked in the history that his talent was unique,rare,par excellence, paramount,special"
Rohini Iyer mourned the loss of Sushant Singh Rajput in a moving post. "I didn’t come to say goodbye to you today because saying goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting. I will remember you every single day of my life and specially every insomniac night. I will not search for you in the stars you loved because I know you are around me smiling and shining like the entire galaxy you are!" she wrote.
In a tweet, Swara Bhasker mentioned, "Sushant didn’t leave a note. We don’t know what he went thru. We don’t know the cause. STOP taking out ur frustration using the pain of a troubled person. He didn’t leave a note! Get it? He didn’t want to talk about it. He’s gone. Let him have his peace & his family privacy."
Television actor Nakuul Mehta shared a moving post remembering Sushant Singh Rajput. He wrote, 'So much has been said, shared and still very little makes sense of what one has felt in the last couple days. What remains is that we lost a talent, far before his glory years, who on his own accord, out of sheer hard work & discipline blazed trails which all of us have aspired for. I never knew him, personally. It might be untruthful to even say that I will miss him but with his passing away, what hurts is the gaping void which a lot of us feel knowing that at some level we all have been accomplice to abetting or simply virtue posturing and even glamourising the competitiveness of this business and in the pursuit of artistic/material glory left behind a part of us which wanted to just belong & care.' He continued, 'It makes me reflect on the fragility of our lives and the depth of our relationships. On this increasing need to seek validation outside and looking for constant nod of approval from gatekeepers of our businesses. How often have we asked each other, what we are working on and how rarely do we ask each other, 'how are you'. Just that! We speak of empathy and find it difficult to feel it for a person who doesn't fit into our construct of righteousness. How often we celebrate the successful and not even acknowledge the ones who are still fighting. I feel personally responsible for this. At very many award nights which I may have hosted & performed at, how often did I take the mic to someone who sat in the tenth row, waiting for their turn under the sun. It may have made world of difference to hear some encouragement and feel a sense of belonging. These are just ramblings of a mind which is seeking answers and also feeling disappointed with not doing 'more' to fight the good fight. I hope that we find joy, love & hope from the legacy that Sushant left behind & yet continue to push ourselves to live the best versions of ourselves. For its only befitting that an industry which thrives on selling emotions must feel and be much more.'
Remembering Sushant Singh Rajput, Farhan Akhtar wrote a couple of lines for the actor.