Here’s all about the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s journey before Bollywood on his 36th birthday!

Throwback: Sushant Singh Rajput always wanted to pursue acting, the late actor Sushant’s journey before Bollywood.

The deceased actor had a long path from being a college dropout to a background dancer in ‘Dhoom Again’ before making it big. Sushant Singh Rajput imprinted an unforgettable appearance in the two soap operas, two dance reality shows and approximately a dozen films he was featured as a lead. In a short yet remarkable profession, the late actor managed to win the hearts of his fans, they memorize him for his miscellaneous characters in films across genres.

Sushant Singh Rajput worked in the Bollywood industry for more than 12 years but many don’t know how he got into the entertainment profession, Sushant Singh was a Patna born who enrolled for Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) He scored 7th rank in All India entrance exam in 2003. He ultimately dropped out in his third year of college to follow his ambitions, his journey to becoming an actor was tough.

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At the time of his studies in the DCE, Sushant enrolled himself in Shiamak Davar’s classes. He was a good dancer and because of his outstanding moves, he soon joined the choreographer and became a background dancer for his characters. He was featured in the song “Dhoom Again” from Dhoom 2. He was also a part of Aishwarya Rai‘s act in the 2006 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony, apart from enacting at IIFA in 2005.

Sushant had given credit to Shiamak for giving him the confidence to become an actor. In an interview he once said he had joined Shiamak Davar just to see “hot girls”, but he turned out taking life lessons from the ace choreographer.

“I used to sell peanuts along with my friends, to hunt for hot girls and then someone suggested that dance classes have many hot girls. Hence, I joined Shiamak Davar’s dance class and danced behind all the big stars and in all big award events. And then I knew that someday I will be in the front,” late actor Sushant said.

“He (Shiamak) used to tell me that though I am not one of his finest dancers still he keeps me in the front row because I have the charm to address the audience.” Sushant further added.

Shiamak recommended Sushant, take up acting, even though he wanted to finish his engineering. Naming Sushant “fun” who had a “good understanding of the craft”, Shiamak told, “I felt there was something special about him back then. He told me that education was important to him. I told him to try and not worry about failure. He has always, in every way, speaking about me as a teacher. It shows the kind of person he is.”

Sushant took a huge and risky step as he decided to switch careers Sushant enrolled in Barry John’s acting classes. After joining the classes he realised that acting was his actual niche, he named this decision a turning point in his life.

In an interview, Sushant said, “The entire credit goes to my theatre teacher Barry John who for the first six months did not speak a single word to me about my performance, other than taking notes in his diary. But at the end of my graduation, I got a ‘B’ grade and everyone else got a ‘C’. Barry called me aside and said, ‘You are good. Think about acting as a career option.’ Since then there has been no looking back for me.”

Sushant later moved to Mumbai but he had to endure many hardships he did small part-time jobs alongside doing theatre. He acted with Nadira Babbar’s theatre group Ekjute for two and a half years. His experience in theatres gave him the opportunity, when he was performing at the Prithvi Theatre, the casting team of Balaji Telefilms approached him for an audition. Sushant ended up bagging the second lead role of Preet Juneja in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil and later got a lead role in Pavitra Rishta. While doing this show he fell in love with his co-star Ankita Lokhande and had a long relationship.

Sushant’s Bollywood debut was in 2013  Kai Po Che. Sushant passed away on 14th June 2020 at his Mumbai residence.