Sushant Sigh Rajput - A struggling actor

BIOGRAPHY

Rajput was born in Patna. His ancestral home is in Bihar's Purnea district. One of his sisters, Mitu Singh, is a state-level cricketer. His mother's death in 2002 left Rajput devastated and it was in the same year that the family moved from Patna to Delhi.

Rajput attended St. Karen's High School in Patna and Kulachi Hansraj Model School in New Delhi. According to Rajput, he had ranked seventh in the DCE Entrance Exam in 2003, and secured admission in the Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering) class in Delhi College of Engineering. He was also a National Olympiad Winner in Physics. In all, he cleared as many as 11 engineering entrance exams, including that for the Indian School of Mines. After he started participating in theatre and dance, he rarely had time for studies, resulting in several backlogs which ultimately made him leave DCE. He completed only three years of the four-year course before dropping out to pursue an acting career.

Sushant Sigh Rajput's Bollywood carrier:

In 2008, the casting team of Balaji Telefilms saw Rajput's personality and acting talent while he was on stage for one of Ekjute's plays. They invited him to audition for them and Rajput landed the role of Preet Juneja in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. His character was killed quite early in the show, but he was such a popular character with the viewers that he was brought back for the series finale in the form of a spirit, looking on as his family celebrates after going through difficult times.

In June 2009, Rajput began starring in Pavitra Rishta as Manav Deshmukh, a serious and mature character working as a mechanic to help support his family. His work in this serial received wide appreciation, and Rajput received three major television awards for best male actor and most popular actor. This performance was his breakthrough and gave him a stepping stone into films.

In May 2010, Rajput joined the dance reality show Zara Nachke Dikha 2. He had already proven his acting talents by winning awards for his performance in Pavitra Rishta, and he wanted to establish that he had good dancing skills and could be trained further. In Zara Nachke Dikha, Rajput was a part of the Mast Kalandar Boys Team. He did the shooting for both Pavitra Rishta and Zara Nachke Dikha 2 at the same time. On the Mother's Day special episode, his team dedicated a performance to his mother, who had died in 2002.

In December 2010, Rajput participated in another dance-based reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4, where he was paired with choreographer Shampa Sonthalia. In October 2011, Rajput decided to quit Pavitra Rishta to pursue a film-making course abroad.

Rajput auditioned for Abhishek Kapoor's Kai Po Che! and was selected to play one of the three leads, along with Rajkumar Rao and Amit Sadh. Based on the Chetan Bhagat novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life, the film proved to be a critical and commercial success. Rajput's portrayal of Ishaan Bhatt, an ex-district level cricketer who is a victim of politics in the cricketing selection fraternity, was praised. Critic Rajeev Masand wrote: "...it's Sushant Singh Rajput, making his film debut as Ishaan, who it's hard to take your eyes off. The actor has an indescribable presence and it's clear from his confidence and distinct likeability that a star is born."

Rajput's second movie was Shuddh Desi Romance, alongside Parineeti Chopra and Vaani Kapoor. Directed by Maneesh Sharma and produced by Yash Raj Films, the film deals with the subject of live-in relationships and was completely filmed in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama praised Rajput's performance, saying: "After leaving a tremendous impression in his first Hindi outing, Sushant Singh Rajput... brings a lot of freshness with his unpretentious and spontaneous act." Sukanya Verma from Rediff stated: "After a dynamic debut in Kai Po Che!, Rajput channelises his abundant energy to convey the childlike ineptitude of a man who wears his heart on a sleeve. Sushant's next role was in Rajkumar Hirani's 2014 film PK. Although his role was relatively minor, the film gave him the opportunity to work with Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma. Upon its release, the film proved to be the one of the highest-grossing Indian films.

In 2015, Rajput's sole release was Dibakar Banerjee's mystery thriller Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015), in which he portrayed detective Byomkesh Bakshi, created by Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. The film was produced jointly by Yash Raj Films and Banerjee's own film production company Dibakar Banerjee Productions. Set in Kolkata in the 1940s, the film was released on 3 April 2015.

In 2016, Rajput appeared in Neeraj Pandey's biographical sports film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, in lead role of Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2016. Rajput's performance was widely praised by the critics and his portrayal of the cricketer was applauded even before the film's release. For his performance in the film, Rajput got his first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

In 2017, Rajput appeared in Dinesh Vijan's Raabta, co-starring Kriti Sanon.

In 2018, Rajput appeared in Kedarnath, a love story set in the backdrop of natural calamities of Kedarnath, Uttarakhand, co-starring Sara Ali Khan.

In 2019, Rajput appeared in Abhishek Chaubey's Sonchiriya opposite Bhumi Pednekar. He appeared in Nitesh Tiwari's Chhichhore opposite Shraddha Kapoor that released on 6 September 2019.

Projects cancelled

In 2019, Rajput was supposed to appear in Tarun Mansukhani's action comedy Drive opposite Jacqueline Fernandez. He was to appear in a science-fiction space film, Chanda Mama Door Ke, along with R. Madhavan, but the film was shelved temporarily due to budget issues. He has also signed on to star in Mukesh Chhabra's remake of The Fault in Our Stars titled Dil Bechara. He was also set to essay 12 real-life characters, including political strategist Chanakya, poet Rabindranath Tagore and former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam, in a biopic series on Stories of India.