It would have been Sushant Singh Rajput's 35th birthday today.?
Prior to his heart-breaking demise, Sushant Singh Rajput had?an astounding decade in the world of entertainment and 11 Bollywood films owed to his name. He deserved much more of everything-a life filled with more happy days, movies that put on display his exceptional talent, and several chances to know how much the entire country loves him.?
Long before Sushant became a quirky-philosophy quoting phenomenon on social media, even before his foray into the world of Hindi cinema, he was a superstar in his own right. His endearing performances on television made fans all over the country take note of him because there was an actor who was one of us who made it big, a guy who actually had the guts to follow his dreams.?
It was 2009 and it would be a fair estimate considering record-breaking television ratings that most of us sat down with our families at 8:30 pm Monday to Friday to witness Sushant Singh Rajput transform into Manav Deshmukh and win our hearts with his sincerity. In the show, Manav lives in a chawl and is in love with Ankita, a girl who lived in the same area. While the show took its typical melodramatic twists of togetherness and separation, through it all, we desperately cheered for Manav to win- the girl and ace his life.?
Maybe it was his smile, his on-screen persona, or his nervous lip-biting vulnerability that instantly resonated with people because here was an actor who wasn't afraid of failing. And that was a welcome change from all the masculine toxicity we were habitual to.?
Sushant Singh Rajput's smashing debut in 2013- as Ishan in?Abhishek Kapoor’s?Kai Po Che only strengthened his stardom because he was a superstar way before he entered mainstream Hindi cinema. Playing the role of an angry local cricketer who helps a poor child Ali become the best batsman of the country as a means to fulfill his impending dream was again a character that related to audiences.?Haven't there been times we have nurtured our own dreams into another person and wholeheartedly prayed and worked for their success??
Or how in?Shuddh Desi Romance, he was a typical Bollywood hero who was dancing, singing songs but never over-whelming his actresses. He was an average, guy next door with simplicity at his core trying to get a girl to like him for his personality. A sharp turn from other typical Bollywood heroes who were all about building a rather unattainable 6-pack-abs and being unable to hold a conversation beyond body-building. Again, there was something achingly relatable about all of his on-screen personas.?
Yes, a film's writing and direction play an imperative role in a character's development but Sushant choosing such kind of roles that were devoid of masculine toxicity, that wasn't afraid to fail, weren't typically heroic but rather just simple people like you and me, made us want to cheer for him as we cheered for anyone we love.?
?The fact that makes Sushant rank exponentially high on the 'just like us' meter was his success story. It was a story we all readily consumed because somewhere, inside all of us- sits a younger, dreamier, and rebellious version of us who is delighted that this guy (Sushant) followed his dreams. The older admirers of the late actor might joke at a phrase like 'following your dreams' but even they were happy that someone made it from rags to riches.?
We were all Sushant Singh Rajput at one point in our lives- wanting to follow and live our dreams. And we were glad he at least made it.??
May he continue to rest in love.?