Sushant Singh Rajput was an Indian television and movie actor who is best remembered for his work in the then-popular show Pavitra Rishta, where he played the role of Manav Deshmukh. He was associated with the show from 2009 to 2011, after which he bagged the role in Abhishek Kapoor`s Kai Po Che! in 2013, for which he won a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Debut and three awards in the same category. Over the years he went on to appear in several movies, a promising beginning for his career as an actor. On 14th June 2020, the talented actor met his untimely demise.

Early Life
Son of a government official and his wife, Sushant Singh Rajput was born on the 21st of January, 1986 in Patna Bihar. He studied at the St. Karen`s High School in Patna before his family moved to New Delhi in 2000, where he attended the Kulachi Model School. Sushant`s mother passed away under tragic circumstances in 2002, leaving him devastated. He, however, appeared for and cleared as many as eleven engineering exams, ranking seventh all over India in the All India Engineering Entrance Exam. He then enrolled at the Delhi College of Engineering, where he studied Mechanical Engineering. While he was still in his third year of engineering, he joined Shiamak Davar`s dance academy after which he started attending Barry John`s drama school. He soon developed a passion for acting. Within few months of joining Shiamak Davar`s dance institute, Sushant was chosen to perform with the dance troop of background dancers at the 51st Filmfare Awards in 2005. The following year, he also performed at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Australia. He eventually dropped out of college to pursue his acting career. He then moved to Mumbai, where he joined Nadira Babbar`s theatre group Ekjute, and was a part of the group for over two years.

Personal Life
Sushant began dating his Pavitra Rishta co-star Ankita Lokhande in 2009. Soon after, they started living in and planned on getting married. However, Sushant announced their split earlier in 2016 via a tweet. Although a lot was written about why the couple called it quits, nothing was confirmed by the two. One of the many reasons was Sushant`s increasing closeness to his Raabta co-star Kriti Sanon.

Television Career
Sushant appeared in the advertisement for Nestle Munch in 2008, after which he was called for an audition by Balaji Telefilm for their show Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. He bagged the lead role of Preet Juneja in the show. Although his character dies very early in the series, on the basis of popular demand, he was brought back on the show in the form of a spirit in the series finale. After a brief yet successful stint on the show, Sushant bagged his next lead role in the popular saga Pavitra Rishta co-starring Ankita Lokhande, where he played the role of a Maharashtrian boy Manav Deshmukh who works as a mechanic to provide for his family. He then was seen in a few dance reality shows such as Zara Nachke Dikha 2 and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4, proving his prowess as a dancer. For the two years that he was a part of the show, he won various awards and received nominations for his performance. He quit the show in 2011 in order to pursue a filmmaking course abroad.

Movie Career
Following his television success, Sushant moved on to doing movies. He first auditioned for a role in Abhishek Kapoor`s 2013 release Kai Po Che!, which is based on Chetan Bhagat`s novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life. Bagging one of the three lead roles, along with Rajkummar Rao and Amit Sadh, Sushant played the role of Ishaan Bhatt, an ex-district level cricketer facing the consequences of politics in the cricketing selection. The movie and Sushant`s performance won critical acclaim, with the movie becoming a commercial success and Sushant`s debut performance being well-received by critics. For his portrayal of Ishaan, Rajput won various best debut awards and nominations.

With his debut movie being a commercial and critical success, the actor was cast in Yash Raj Films` romantic comedy Shuddh Desi Romance in 2013 co-starring Parineeti Chopra and debutante actor Vaani Kapoor. The Maneesh Sharma-directed movie focuses on the topic of live-in relationships. Critics lauded Rajput`s unpretentious performance, calling it fresh, childlike, and spontaneous. He was then seen in Rajkumar Hirani`s sci-fi comedy PK co-starring Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma, where he played a minor role. The movie went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 2014, and also one of the highest-grossing Indian films.

Just three movies in the industry and Sushant bagged the titular role in Dibakar Banerjee`s 2015 release Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, which despite not doing exceptionally well at the box office, won Sushant`s performance in the action-mystery-thriller set in 1942 acclaim and appreciation. Portraying the character of arguably India`s most successful cricketing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sushant was seen in Neeraj Pandey`s biopic drama M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story so-starring Kiara Advani and Disha Patani in 2016. The movie went on to become a commercial success and Sushant`s performance won him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actor. Following the success of his last venture, Sushant was roped in by Dinesh Vijan to play the lead opposite Kriti Sanon in his 2017 romance Raabta. His other releases included Kedarnath (2018), Sonchiriya (2019), Chhichhore (2019) and Dil Bechara (2020). The actor passed away on 14th June 2020.