Juuhi Babbar, who directed late actor Sushant Singh Rajput in two of her plays, in her Instagram post, revealed that the actor was spotted by a Balaji casting person while he was handling the ticket counter. Ms Babbar, Sushant Singh Rajput's first director, occupied a spot on the list of trends ahead of his last film Dil Bechara's release. Sharing a picture along with the late actor, last month, she wrote: "I directed Sushant in 2 plays. In 2007, he acted in his first play Pukaar and the other one was a comedy Dauda Dauda Bhaaga Bhaaga Sa. In fact, he was spotted by a Balaji casting person while he was handling the tickets at the box office counter for one of the plays." She added in her post that the actor remained in touch with his old friends despite becoming a big star. "TV aur film star banney ke baad bhi apne theatre ke dino ke doston se juda raha. Aur mere toh ek call par hamesha, behad busy hone ke baavajood, theatre group ke shows aur events par pohoch jaata tha."
Juuhi Babbar added that Sushant always referred to her as "his first director." She wrote: "Mujhe Didi bulaata tha aur hamesha bohot pyaar se kehta tha 'didi you were my first director.' Sushant, tumhe dekh kar hamesha kitni khushi hoti thi.." Sushant Singh Rajput made his TV debut with Balaji Telefilms' Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil.
Read her post here:
A few days before the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, his first producer Ekta Kapoor revealed that that a creative executive at Zee TV did not think that the actor was the perfect choice for Manav's character in the popular TV show Pavitra Rishta. However, she convinced the channel's creative executive that Sushant would be the right choice for Manav's character and that "his smile would win a million hearts." In her post, she wrote: "After being 35 of 50 slots we were out of top 50! This show was a chance Zee TV gave us based on a show Thirumathi Selvam (a Tamil TV soap).Wanted to cast a boy as lead who was doing second lead on our other show ! The creative at Zee was adamant he didn't look the part! We convinced them his smile would win a million hearts and it did."
Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide, said the police. He became a star after featuring in Balaji Telefilms' popular daily show Pavitra Rishta. His impressive filmography included hits as well critically acclaimed films like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Kedarnath, Chhichhore and Sonchiriya among others. His last project Dil Bechara releases today on Disney+Hotstar.
(If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist.) Helplines: AASRA: 91-22-27546669 (24 hours) Sneha Foundation: 91-44-24640050 (24 hours) Vandrevala Foundation for Mental Health: 1860-2662-345 and 1800-2333-330 (24 hours) iCall: 022-25521111 (Available from Monday to Saturday: 8:00am to 10:00pm) Connecting NGO: 18002094353 (Available from 12 pm - 8 pm)
