Sushant Singh Rajput excited to play India’s Paralympics champion Murlikant Petkar

By Subhash K. Jha -

October 12, 2016 - 10:05 AM IST

After Dhoni it’s another sports bio-pic for Sushant. The enormously dedicated actor Sushant Singh Rajput who lost precious time preparing for Paani, a project that never took off, is back doing several films. Says Sushant, “Yes, I did give a lot of time in preparing for Paani. But no regrets. During that time I couldn’t sign any new films. But now I am working on four new projects including Dinesh Vijeyan’s Rabtaa, Homi Adjania’s Takdum and India’s first space film Chanda Mama Dur Ke.”

Sushant Singh Rajput excited to play India’s Paralympics champion Murlikant Petkar

After playing cricketer M S Dhoni, it is another real-life character for Sushant in an untitled film based on the life of the physically disabled army man turned sportsperson Murlikant Petkar who won a Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and at the Paralympics in Germany in 1972.

Sushant says he was immediately attracted to Petkar’s story. “The minute I heard his story I was on. I wanted to do it without a second thought. What an inspiring story! After playing Dhoni I’m looking forward to playing Petkar who never allowed his physical hurdles to stand in the way of his dreams. I like playing characters who dream big.”

About the sudden flurry of activity in his career Sushant admits, “For nine months I signed nothing new as I was preparing for Shekhar Kapoor’s Paani. And so what if the movie didn’t get made? The discussions and conversations I had with Shekhar for nine months were invaluable. I cherish every minute I spent with him. I finally didn’t do the film. But I consider myself lucky to be able to spend so much time with him. Every minute was a learning experience.”