Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput has killed himself. His body was found at his Bandra home, Mumbai police confirmed. Rajput was 34.
DCP zone 9 Abhishek Trimukhe confirmed the death and said the Mumbai Police has started investigation.
Sushant Singh Rajput’s spokesperson said in a statement, “It pains us to share that Sushant Singh Rajput is no longer with us. We request his fans to keep him in their thoughts and celebrate his life, and his work like they have done so far. We request the media to help us maintain privacy at this moment of grief.”
Sushant Singh Rajput had his first brush with success when he essayed the male lead of Ekta Kapoor’s daily show Pavitra Rishtra alongside Ankita Lokhande. He later went on to participate in dance reality shows, Zara Nachke Dikha and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4.
In October 2011, he quit the TV industry to pursue a career in Bollywood. He made his debut with the 2013 movie Kai Po Che! He later bagged lead roles in movies such as Yash Raj Films’ Shuddh Desi Romance, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Kedarnath and the more recent Chhichhore.
While his career in Bollywood was short, Sushant had worked with some of the most popular names in the film industry such as Rajkumar Hirani, Abhishek Kapoor, Dibakar Banerjee, Neeraj Pandey, Nitesh Tiwari and Abhishek Chaubey.
Born in Bihar’s capital Patna in 1986, Sushant moved from the state to Delhi after his mother passed away in 2002. A National Olympiad winner in Physics, Sushant pursued Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in Delhi College of Engineering, but never completed the course. It was during this period that he started taking acclaimed choreographer Shiamak Davar’s dance classes and even joined Barry John’s acting classes.
Nitesh Tiwari, who directed him in Chhichhore, told indianexpress.com, “I am too shocked and numbed to say anything. I saw the news on TV and then reached out to a few people. And I don’t know. He was like a young brother to me. We exchanged a few messages a week ago, and I got no such hint that he was not feeling well. I had no idea about his battle with depression. Had I known, I would have been the first person to reach out to him. I always treated him like a younger brother. It’s a huge shock for each one of us.”
Disha Salian, the actor’s ex-manager, passed away earlier this month after reportedly falling from the window of her friend’s residence in Mumbai’s Malad.
Sushant Singh Rajput was last seen in Drive opposite Jacqueline Fernandez.