Sushant Singh Rajput promised to show the stars to his co-actors, carried a telescope to Chambal: ‘He's up there right by his favourite moon'

Sushant Singh Rajput was one of the most loved actors of his generation in the Hindi film industry. He rose to fame with his television show Pavitra Rishta but his films like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Sonchiriya brought him a lot of critical acclaim. While he was undoubtedly a celebrated actor, he also excelled at academics as he got the seventh rank at AIEEE exams conducted nationwide in 2003. While he became an actor, he had a lot of passion for astronomy and loved watching the stars.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Sushant Singh Rajput had shared, 'Engineering wasn't my choice. I wanted to be an astronaut, and later, an Air Force pilot. I remember tearing up my Top Gun poster when my parents told me that was not going to happen. Apparently, I was going to be an engineer. Maybe the drama I did that day should've given everyone a clue! But truly, I was gutted…' In his early days in the entertainment industry, he worked as a background dancer and was seen dancing behind Hrithik Roshan in the song 'Dhoom Again' in Dhoom 2. While he relentlessly pursued his passion as an actor, his love for astronomy never subsided.
After Sushant Singh Rajput's death on June 14, 2020. His Chhichhore co-star Shraddha Kapoor took her Instagram handle to share a long note about her bond with the Pavitra Rishta actor. Among the many things, she wrote how he used to be curious about everything around him. 'The conversations we had at shoot about the cosmos, different philosophies, the moments we spent together, were filled with magical wonderment! During a lovely musical and poetry filled gettogether at his home (he loved music and poetry), he showed me the moon from his telescope and I was so speechless that I could see it's exquisite beauty up close!'
She further revealed his love for astronomy, and shared, 'Our Chhichhore gang went to his beautiful home in Pavna, where we were awestruck together with the peace and calm of the nature around us–he loved nature! He saw things through a kaleidoscopic lens and wanted to share that with everyone around him. He was mesmerised by the simplest things and would muse on them in a genius way.'
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Similarly, Jacqueline Fernandez, who starred opposite him in the film Drive shared her memories with the star in a conversation with India Today. She said, 'I looked at him as this genius. He was always telling me which books to read. He would say, 'Oh Jacky, you don't know this. Wait, let me introduce you to this author, let me introduce you to this science.' In a conversation with IANS, Sushant's Sonchiriya co-star Manoj Bajpayee said, 'What I automatically recall about Sushant is how much interest he had about everything in life. He was always curious to learn about everything — the unknown, space, about quantum physics, about acting, about filmmaking.' In another podcast with Mid-Day, Manoj shared the Kai Po Che star was a 'voracious reader' with a 'fantastic mind.'
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When his film Kedarnath turned 4 in 2022, his co-star Sara Ali Khan penned a long note in his memory. Writing about Sushant, Sara shared on her Instagram, 'I would do anything to back to August 2017, learn so much from Sushant about music, films, books, life, acting, stars and the sky, witness every sunrise, sunset and moonrise.' She added, 'And as the full moon shines bright tonight, I know Sushant is up there right by his favourite moon, shining like the bright star he always was and always will be. From Kedarnath to Andromeda.'
His Sonchiriya co-star Bhumi Pednekar too had shared a long note after his death. In her note, she shared, 'The first time we met, you told me you would show me the stars. In my head, I wondered–ya whatever, what a cheese ball. Little did I know you meant every word you said. With a smile full of pride you showed it to us. The massive big black hole, your best friend, your telescope. I was like, wait, what really, you got this here!' She added, 'You took us to the moon and back, I remember the moon being red then. You showed us Saturn, Jupiter, and a million stars. You challenged me to write with my left hand and narrate versus backwards. You challenged me to races and quizzes and it drove me nuts. You spoke of Faraday, Chatelet and tried explaining me Newton's theories through Art. You genius will live on with all the work you have done and through that telescope I will spot you again.'
Veteran actor Ashutosh Rana, who was also a part of the critically acclaimed film Sonchirya, recalled in an interview with Bombay Times that Sushant had carried a telescope with him to Chambal during the shoot of Sonchiriya.
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Sushant Singh Rajput was a member of the International Lunar Lands Registry (ILLR), which is a crowd funded program that aims to gather data necessary for human exploration and development of the lunar surface without hampering its natural beauty. His love for astronomy was such that he even bought some land on the moon.
In a moving tribute for the actor, US-based astrophysicist and scientist Dr Karan Jani had shared little-known side about the actor a day after his death in 2020. In a long post, Karan shared, 'I had the rare privilege to witness the other side of Sushant – that of a profoundly curious human being who had an impressive reading habit.' He added, 'His social media bio read, 'Photon in a double-slit'. He was indeed like that, living with a duality. With one being a Bollywood star with millions of followers while the other being an honest seeker finding a meaning in this universe. Our 2017 discovery of neutron star collision was the closest to him. It was his dream to one day visit the LIGO observations in the U.S.'
Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14, 2020.

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