Actor Jitin Gulati, best known for his roles in Bambai Meri Jaan and Kaala among several others, has had his share of challenges before he established himself. Working in the banking space for around eight years, a young man from Delhi could not let go of his dream of becoming an actor. He landed in the movies, including MS Dhoni and worked with Sushant Singh Rajput. It’s COVID, the world is halted. After a long time, he finally gets home to meet his family, only to realise his dear friend is no more.
Jitin Gulati recently sat with mid-day for a hearty chat, and the actor shared what it was like to know about his MS Dhoni co-star’s death.
Jitin Gulati about Sushant Singh Rajput
Jitin Gulati played the brief role of Gautam Gupta, MS Dhoni’s brother-in-law, in the cricketer`s biopic. Although brief, he got a chance to interact with the actor whom he calls ‘sharpest’. Talking about Sushant, Jitin says, “One of the sharpest people I have worked with. I have always said this. One of the best actors, one of the sharpest, intelligent people.”
He was also so focused. His level of focus was another level. No doubt he achieved so much at such a young age. One of the best minds that I`ve worked with, I would say.”
Talking about dealing with his loss, Jitin says, “I still sometimes can`t believe it. Because when you share physical space with someone in such close quarters, and you work with them, laugh with them, eat with them, work with them, it`s just a shock. Sometimes it`s unbelievable to know that something like this is happening. Even years later, it feels unbelievable.”
Jitin recalls the moment he learnt about Sushant’s death
We asked him if he remembers the moment he learnt about Sushant’s death, to which he says, “That was in the middle of COVID. I remember flights had opened up, and I`d gone back to my house. I just reached that day on the 14th of June, and I got a message. Somebody from my bank colleagues called me asking, ‘Are you okay?’ I said, ‘Why, what happened? I`m okay. And I`m back home.’”
He further adds, “So I thought they`re talking about COVID. And they said, ‘No, sir, this happened.’ I could not put two and two. I thought maybe Sushant, maybe someone else. Because I thought they were talking about someone else, I could not place that they were talking about Sushant Rajput.”
The actor recalls he was shocked as he shared, “And I heard that news and I sat on the ground. I was standing, and I sat on the ground because my body was like shaking. I don`t know what happened to me. I can`t even explain.”
He recalls how his sister calmed him down, saying, “My sister was there. She came in and she heard the news on television. She then sat with me, got me water. And then of course, calls started coming in.”
“A lot of my colleagues from earlier back then called me because they all knew that I`d worked with him. So a lot of calls started coming, and it started sinking in and not sinking in. You did not know how to deal with that news. It was a very uncertain time. In the middle of COVID, to get something like this,” he adds.