Published 22:59 IST, July 4th 2020
Sanjana Sanghi recalls script-reading with Sushant, reveals his gift tucked in her drawer
Sanjana Sanghi recalled the script-reading session with Sushant Singh Rajput on 'Dil Bechara.' She also reveals his gift tucked in her drawer, a sweet note.
It's common to have butterflies in the stomach for a debutante and it was no different for Sanjana Sanghi. Apart from the working on an adaptation of a Hollywood hit The Fault in Our Stars, she was also paired opposite an established name, Sushant Singh Rajput and being directed by well-known casting director Mukesh Chhabra for Dil Bechara. However, her commonalities with her late co-star and director made it easier and memorable for the actress.
Sushant-Sanjana's bond
Sanjana recalled how both had studied the script thoroughly. She shared, “We both, nerds, had read the script down to its last word respectively, and both our copies looked like they were tattered old novels that had aged over years, with post-it marks, and added notes - the works. I was a bundle of nerves. Mukesh asked me to just relax, and we all jumped right in.”
Food was another factor had helped the pair bond time, Sanjana said, “Mukesh, him and I - all helpless foodies. We ordered a lavish spread. Looked at the dining table, yet we 3 decided to take to the floor, spread our meal on a mat, and started gorging."
"He mocked me for how much food I can eat, but the food was a huge mutual love for us in addition to academia,” Sanjana revealed.
Fans and netizens have been expressing their admiration on how Sushant loved science, gazing at the stars, and how he was an Engineering student, having scored brilliant in the entrance exams and a National Olympiad Winner in Physics. Sanjana too was brilliant student and recalled how their love for academics and food once merged, and ended with a sweet gift from Sushant.
“This lunch, most oddly, was marked with my father sending me a text saying we got a letter home telling us I had become a Gold Medalist at Delhi University. Sushant, Mukesh and the whole team were ecstatic to hear this news too - and what followed was champagne (that we never got the chance to open and celebrate with) and the kindest note from him about what the colliding of academia and cinema means even to him and the value it holds, which I still have tucked firmly in my drawer,” she said.
Sanjana has been on a spree of sharing her fond memories with Sushant on Instagram. After breaking down in a video on the day of his death, she shared how they’d compete with each other for script, food, books and enjoy dance. Their film Dil Bechara, Sanjana’s first and Sushant’s last, releases on July 24, on Disney+Hotstar.
Updated 22:59 IST, July 4th 2020