Raabta: I won’t play myself on-screen, says Sushant Singh Rajput

Sushant Singh Rajput, who essayed the role of former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the big screen, says he does not want to play himself in films as that is not exciting enough for him.

He will be seen playing two characters in his forthcoming film Raabta. Asked if any of the characters is close to his personality, Sushant said, “No, none of them are similar to my own character. In fact, I will not play myself on screen. That is not exciting for me as a performer. I started acting because I wanted to play or act like someone else. I am acting myself all the time, in life. That was getting a little boring so, I started acting someone else, and getting paid for it. That... I found interesting.”

The film, with a reincarnation story, revolves around a couple played by Sushant and Kriti Sanon. Giving an insight into his character, Sushant said, “The story has captured two eras. In one, I am playing a happy-go-lucky boy who falls in love with a girl. And in the other part, I am playing the character of a warrior. The story is quite different and the characters don’t have a reference point.”

However, Sushant does not believe in reincarnation. He said, “When I sleep for six to eight hours a day, I don’t know who I am during that time. How can I recall who was I in my previous birth or if at all I was?”

Sushant, who has a theatre background, had to struggle for long before gaining popularity with the TV show Pavitra Rishta, which went on air in 2009. He then made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che in 2013.

Apart from tasting success, he also experienced failure with films like Shuddh Desi Romance and Detective Byomkesh Bakshy.

He moved up the career ladder with the 2016 film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. “There was a time when I used to go to shopping malls so that people would recognise me and ask for photographs and all you know you look for little attention as a television actor, but now that seduction for money and fame has gone. Now I am used to it. Obviously, when you are living in a small room sharing with six other boys, you want a proper house for yourself, a car so that you can get rid of the crowd of local train and public transport. Now, I have them all so, all I want is good work,” said Sushant.

The Patna born actor was a good student and cricketer just like one of his sisters Mitu Singh, who is a state-level cricketer. As he grew up with four sisters, he saw how his parents treated all of them equally with no gender discrimination in the house. Asked why he has never talked about gender equality on public platforms, Sushant said, “That’s the moment you spoil the power of it! When you are saying that girls are equally powerful or gender equality should be there, you are demeaning girls. It is self-contradictory. Let me not tell you again that girls are equal and I respect men and women equally, both the genders deserve everything in equality.”