Manoj Bajpayee told Sushant Singh Rajput ‘yeh jaan maar denge tumhari’, advised him to develop thick skin if he wants to survive Bollywood

Manoj Bajpayee recently recalled working with the late Sushant Singh Rajput in Sonchiriya and shared he cannot comment on his death, but he could tell that the late actor was not 'a mad guy'.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: January 11, 2025 10:24 PM IST

4 min read

Manoj Bajpayee recalls discussing industry politics with late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. (Photo: IMDb)

Manoj Bajapyee, regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation, has witnessed his share of setbacks. He waited for years to get into the National School of Drama, but was rejected on multiple occasions. It took him about a decade to get a career break, and the struggles continued even after he was recognised for his work in Satya and Bandit Queen. But developing a thick skin helped him survive the cutthroat film industry, and this was the same advice that he shared with his fellow Bihari actor, the late Sushant Singh Rajput.

Manoj Bajapyee recently spoke about the late actor in detail and said, ‘he wasn’t a mad guy’. Sushant died by suicide in 2020. Talking to Mid-Day, the actor said, “Nobody knows what happened to him. All of us are only presuming and guessing things. I have worked with him, and I can say he wasn’t a mad guy. He was fairly well-versed in too many things. He was a voracious reader. I found him reading all the time, both on the set and off the set.”

He added, “He had great knowledge about quantum physics. He used to talk to me about spiritualism and compare it with quantum physics. He was a fantastic mind. I would not like to come to any conclusion because I really don’t know what happened to him. Even the CBI is yet to come to a conclusion.”

Manoj described Sushant as ‘a moody guy’, but noted that this was the case with several of his co-stars. He said, “He was a moody guy, and so am I. The sets of Sonchiriya had me, Ashutosh Rana, Ranvir Shorey and Sushant. We all had our off days. Just before the pandemic, when I went out to shoot, he had called me and said, ‘Manoj bhai, I really crave the mutton you cook so next time when you make it, please invite me over.'”

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Sushant allegedly died by suicide in June, 2020. The news came as a shock to many, including Manoj Bajpayee, who felt the actor’s death was like a personal loss to him. “I must tell you that his death news hit me so badly that I was sad for three months as if I have known him so personally and closely.”

Manoj recalled chatting with the late actor about the industry politics. He said, “As far as the industry is concerned, we used to have chats about the industry and its politics. I always told him to keep thick skin nahi toh yeh jaan maar dengi tumhari (or else they will suck the life out of you). I had the thick skin because I have faced so many rejections. It was a part of my life but a lot of my friends didn’t have that thick skin. They couldn’t face rejections like I did.”

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Sushant Singh Rajput rose to fame with the Zee TV show, Pavitra Rishta. After acting in television for several years, the actor tried his luck in Bollywood with Kai Po Che and it became a commercial success. He next featured in the film Shuddh Desi Romance alongside Parineeti Chopra and it too became a hit. It was, however, his 2016 film MS Dhoni: The Untold Story that shot him to fame and established him as a bankable star.

Post the success of MS Dhoni, the actor starred in films like Raabta, Welcome to New York, Kedarnath, Sonchiriya, Chhichhore, and Drive. Dil Bechara, a remake of English film The Fault in our Stars, was the actor’s last film. It released posthumously on Disney Plus Hotstar in 2020.