In reel life, he portrayed India’s World Cup winning captain brilliantly. In his debut film, he was the cricket coaching instructor to a boy. That was the deep connect that Sushant Singh Rajput, the Bollywood actor, had with cricket.
Rajput, who died at the age of 34, is best remembered for his roles in Kai Po Che and MS Dhoni – The Untold Story. Rajput’s deep connections with cricket make his death very untimely and sad. The outpouring of grief by all sporting personalities is a tribute to how Sushant Singh Rajput had given due justice to his role in the biopic of Dhoni.
In his entire career, only two moves of Sushant Singh Rajput stand out for the sheer dedication, spontaneity and hard work that he put in. For a sports fan, his role in Kai Po Che and as Dhoni are symbolic of how talented he was.
The hard work on MS Dhoni
If one looks at the film MS Dhoni – The Untold Story, you could have been mistaken for thinking that the World Cup winning captain was playing that role and not Sushant Singh Rajput.
The amount of hard work that he had put in to get into the skin of Mahi was brilliant. In one video, it is shown that in order to get Dhoni’s skills, Sushant Singh Rajput had to slog for 150 days in order to just replicate his batting skills.
In that video, he is shown that he suffered blisters in his hands, sweated bullets and at times was frustrated enough to throw in the towel.
However, just like Dhoni, he never gave up and his acting and display of batting in that film made you feel that it was Dhoni reliving his childhood struggles all over again.
Many people have shared a clip of that movie to pay tribute to Sushant Singh Rajput. The scene is that Dhoni, is sitting on the bench in a railway platform and it is raining.
His supervisor comes and asks, “What is the matter?” Dhoni responds, “I am not getting further opportunities. I am just playing Ranji Trophy. How long will this take place? Sometimes, I feel that I should just leave everything and go back home. But then, my father’s face crops up. When I go back to my quarters, I feel I am going back to the pavilion. You asked me why I am sitting here. This is what I am thinking.”
Even Kiran More, the former India keeper and selector who trained Sushant Singh Rajput for the movie, stated how keen he was to get the exact feel of MS Dhoni.
“I remember during the initial days of training, the spot boy was carrying his cricket kit and I told him ‘better you carry your kit’. From that day, he carried his kit for the next nine months. Very educated kid, top-grade student and whatever he used to do, he used to put in his research,”
More told WION news.
Sparkling debut in Kai Po Che
In the 2013 film Kai Po Che, which was Sushant Singh Rajput’s debut, he played the role of a cricket coach who spots a prodigious talent in a boy named Ali. His life revolves around cricket. It is stated that in some reports that Sushant Singh Rajput had to undergo training for four months under two cricket coaches to fit into the character.
In that movie, apart from his wonderful cricket training of the boy, there is one scene which shows Sushant Singh Rajput’s spontaneity. When India beat Australia in the 2001 Eden Gardens Test, there is a new wave of optimism in life.
At that time, friendships which are broken are healed. Previously, where there was despair. Now, there is joy. The jubilation and happiness that Sushant Singh Rajput and Amit Sadh portray could be any one of the 1.3 billion Indians who celebrate a cricket match. That was his wonder.
Sushant Singh Rajput had a deep connection with cricket in reel life. That also translated potentially in real life. It is a shame that his innings ended cruelly on 34. Sushant Singh Rajput, gone too soon. Thank you for all the memories.
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