Sushant Rajput's space film to be revived as a tribute
Chanda Mama Door Ke, an ambitious science-fiction movie touted to be India's first space film that was supposed to star Sushant Singh Rajput, will soon be revived in memory of the beloved late actor. The film was announced in 2017 but it never entered production due to multiple delays. Now, the movie's director has shed light on the future of the project.
In 2018, it was reported that Sushant had walked out of the project owing to multiple delays. However, director Sanjay Puran Singh has revealed that the movie has not been shelved yet. "I hope I will be able to translate on screen what I have visualized in my head and put on paper (sic)," he told Mid-Day in an interview.
But citing Sushant's tragic passing, the director added that work on the project shall not be started immediately. "I am not reviving it right away as it has not been even a year to Sushant's passing; his loss has been emotionally exhausting."
Singh further shared that Sushant was quite passionate about the project and hence he will make it as a tribute to him. "Whenever I make the film, it will be a tribute to Sushant. He was so attached to the script that I owe this to him. He had given a lot of inputs to the material," the filmmaker said.
To recall, Sushant, who would have played an astronaut in the movie, had undergone training at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2018 as part of his preparation. He had also interacted with real-life astronauts to gain insights for it at that time.
The director has also revealed that he is unable to imagine casting anyone else in place of Sushant. "I cannot think of a replacement for Sushant." At the time of its announcement, Chanda Mama Door Ke was also supposed to feature actors Nawazuddin Siddiqui and R Madhavan. However, it remains to be seen whether they will be a part of the reworked script.
In what had come as a source of shock and grief for his countless fans, friends and family, Sushant was found dead at his apartment in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. The city's police had said it was a case of suicide and the actor had been suffering from depression. Currently, three central agencies are probing the circumstances that led to his untimely death.
Star of popular Hindi films such as Kai Po Che!, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!, and M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, Sushant was last seen on the silver screen in Chhichhore. His final movie, Dil Bechara, was released digitally a month after his death.
