EXCLUSIVE: Vardhaan Puri shares heartfelt memories of working with Sushant Singh Rajput in Shuddh Desi Romance: “We were like brothers, roamed Jaipur on a bike, read scenes at random places; his name is still stored in my phone as ‘Sushant bhai’ with a heart emoji”

By Fenil Seta -

February 15, 2025 - 5:34 PM IST

Vardhaan Puri recently had a release, Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story and while talking about it exclusively with Bollywood Hungama, he also recalled his days as an assistant director. When asked about working with Sushant Singh Rajput in Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), Vardhaan gave a detailed and a fascinating answer.

EXCLUSIVE: Vardhaan Puri shares heartfelt memories of working with Sushant Singh Rajput in Shuddh Desi Romance: “We were like brothers, roamed Jaipur on a bike, read scenes at random places; his name is still stored in my phone as ‘Sushant bhai’ with a heart emoji”

Vardhaan Puri said, “We were like brothers. When we met, we didn’t know each other at all. This was when the trailer of Kai Po Che (2013) had just been released. He walked in with a thick book on astrophysics. I thought he had a bound script in his hand. But he showed me the book and that’s when I realized what it was. He was also constantly researching which telescope to buy on his phone. I told him that I was wowed by it. He told me, ‘Mere ghar aayega? Main star gazing karta hoon’! He was very passionate about so many things apart from cinema.”

Vardhaan continued, “While we were shooting in Jaipur, he made it clear that he would neither travel in the hotel car nor the production car. He insisted on riding a bike and he asked me to join him. He told me, ‘Tu aur main saath mein shehar ghoomenge aur yahaan ke logon ka bartaav dekhenge aur woh kaise rehte hai’! He knew that I wanted to be an actor and hence, he thought the experience would come in handy for both of us. Accordingly, we would roam around the city. Sometimes, he used to ride the bike while sometimes, I used to ride. We would eat at the roadside stalls and would read out scenes at random places. We also had meals together.”

Sushant Singh Rajput unfortunately passed away on June 14, 2020. Vardhaan Puri revealed, “We stayed in touch until his demise. I was shocked when I heard about his death. I dropped my phone and I started weeping. It was like losing a family member. I still haven’t recovered from that shock. Even today, his name is stored in my phone as ‘Sushant bhai’ with a heart emoji. I really miss him; it’s a big loss to the entire world that someone like him went away.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Kaveri Kapur talks about following in Farhan Akhtar’s footsteps and debuting as an actor-singer; Vardhaan Puri confirms there’s a strong Rishi Kapoor and Hum Tum connection in Bobby Aur Rishi Ki Love Story: “Kunal Kohli asked, ‘Imagine if Hum Tum was made today…”