In what has turned out to be a tragic day, week, month and year, the entertainment industry lost yet another of its gems. Actor Sushant Singh Rajput took his life on June 14, 2020 by hanging himself. He was only 34 years old. His body was apparently found by his house help who informed the police.  The reason for his extreme step is not yet known. The entertainment industry recently bid tearful farewells to Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor and music composer Wajid Khan. And with Sushant, yet another actor, full of calibre, gone too soon. Sushant Singh Rajput Commits Suicide, Actor Found Hanging in His Apartment.

Sushant will always be an epitome of success for all those who don't have Godfathers in the industry, yet have made a mark for themselves. His story from having no one in the industry to guide him to becoming a much-appreciated actor in the industry is truly an inspiration to one and all. Sushant Singh Rajput Dies At 34: Ekta Kapoor Remembers Their Conversation From Last Week, Expresses Grief Saying 'Not fair Sushi!'.

Sushant had dabbled in various other career interests before his true calling in the form of acting came to him. In an interview with Asian Paints, where SSR showed off his humble Mumbai home, he had said, "I always wanted to be an astronaut and then I talked myself into becoming a pilot then I said engineering. I was so confused that I thought lets become an actor and be everything." I still remember seeing the video and let me tell you, his love for cinema was real. Sushant Singh Rajput No More: Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Uddhav Thackeray Express Condolences Over The Actor's Death.

Sushant's interest in acting started when he enrolled for Shiamak Davar's (Sushant is a trained dancer) classes where he along with some of his other classmates picked up an interest for performing arts. Sushant got his big break in acting in 2008, when the casting team of Balaji Telefilms spotted him in one of Nadira Babbar's Ekjute group's plays and he landed the role of Preet Juneja in Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil. His role, though small, caught Ekta Kapoor's attention and she went against the creative of Zee TV to cast Sushant in a role that made him immortal for the TV audience- Manav Deshmukh in Pavtra Rishta. Sushant Singh Rajput Dies: Virender Sehwag, Saina Nehwal, Harbhajan Singh, Others in Sports Fraternity Express Shock on Actor’s Sudden Demise.

The role of Pavitra Rishta gave Sushant everything that he yearned for and from then on began Sushant's journey of fame. Along with the Zee TV soap, Sushant also got to show off his trained dancing skills in Zara Nachke Dikha and Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 4. Sushant soon dreamed big and quit Pavitra Rishta to pursue a film-making course. Sushant's role in Pavitra Rishta won him a good 5 awards for Best Actor and Popular Male categories. Sushant Singh Rajput Dies: Sachin Tendulkar Condoles Bollywood Actor’s Sudden Demise.

Sushant's big-screen break arrived in the form of Abhishek Kapoor's multi-starrer movie, Kai Po Che (2013) which is based on Chetan Bhagat's The 3 Mistakes Of My Life. Sushant had received some rave reviews from India's famous critics and ever since, there was no turning back for the handsome actor. Sushant Singh Rajput Passes Away: Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Anupam Kher and Other Celebs Express Deep Shock (Read Tweets)

Sushant then went on to do Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), PK (2014), Detective Byomkesh Bakshy (2015), M.S.Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), Raabta (2017), Kedarnath (2018), Chhichhore, (2019), Sonchiriya (2019) and Drive (2019). Sushant was also on-board for Dil Bechara, The Fault In Our Stars' hindi remake and also was all set to play 12 real-life characters in a biopic series set in India.

On the relationships front, Sushant was in a long-term relationship with his Pavitra Rishta co-star Ankita Lokhande. In fact, he had even proposed to her on Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 4. However, they went their separate ways in 2016. Sushant was then linked with Kriti Sanon, Sara Ali Khan and Rhea Chakraborty. However, Sushant never clarified any of these rumours.

While it was pretty evident with Sushant's body of work that he was quite the skilled actor, it is being reported that the actor was suffering from 'clinical depression' for a while now (no sources have confirmed this piece of news). Nevertheless, our prayers go out to Sushant's family. May the actor's soul rest in peace!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2020 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).