Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, rose to stardom since he portrayed MS Dhoni in the former Indian captain’s biopic. Rajput brilliantly imitated the typical mannerisms, nuances and traits of Mahi in the blockbuster movie ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, released in 2016.
Also, Rajput, after training hard for almost one year, managed to replicate even the trademark shots of India’s talismanic wicketkeeper-batsman.
Rajput fine-tuned his batting skills, so much so that even the great man Sachin Tendulkar heaped praises on him.
“I remember the moment when Sachin Tendulkar was left stunned when he saw Sushant Singh batting. Sushant was working on a biopic of MS Dhoni, and I was asked by the director Neeraj Pandey and the producer Arun Pandey to coach him on wicket-keeping and batting,” former selector Kiran More told Indian Express.
“A few weeks into the training, I remember Sushant practising the famous Helicopter shot of Dhoni. That’s when Tendulkar came to the training ground at BKC Bandra, a Mumbai suburb,” the former Indian wicket-keeper added.
Furthermore, Sushant’s batting impressed Sachin so much that he even stated that the former could pursue the sport professionally.
“Tendulkar was watching from the gallery and when I met him later, after practice, he asked me, “who is this boy? He is batting so well. Itni achi batting kar raha hai!” I told him that it’s the actor Sushant, who is preparing for a biopic on Dhoni. Tendulkar was so shocked and said, “he can play proper professional cricket if he wants to. He seems that good,” More added.
In the movie, Rajput replicated Dhoni’s cut-shots, slogs as well as the helicopter shots to perfection. Apart from that, Rajput immortalised Dhoni in the movie by imitating his walking style, glove-work, and habits while at the crease.
Sadly, on late Sunday afternoon, the cricketing fraternity, as well as the Bollywood industry, received a major blow, with the news of Sushant’s suicide at his Bandra residence. The 34-year-old late actor was renowned for making a mark in Bollywood in a short space of time.
