Filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor revealed that he spent his own money on the 'Kedarnath' shoot. People wanted to leave the film because they thought the lead actor, the late Sushant Singh Rajput, wasn't a star, he said.
In 2018, Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan marked her Bollywood debut with the film 'Kedarnath', which was set against the backdrop of the Uttarakhand floods. In the movie, Rajput was a porter.
In a conversation with India Today, Kapoor stated “It is so strange. People were leaving Kedarnath saying Sushant is not a star. I was fighting for that movie. I put money from my own pocket to finish it. I was under so much pressure, but I had conviction so I had to make the film.”
Rajput, according to Kapoor, did not realise how much he was loved while he was alive. “While making Kedarnath, I knew Sushant was in pain. The thing is, once he passed away, the whole world became his fan. But it was not always like that. There was a system that didn’t let him believe how much he was loved. He did not get it. But he passed away, and it’s like the whole country exploded and declared how much they loved him. That’s the tragedy,” Kapoor stated.
'Kedarnath' celebrated its third anniversary this week. Kapoor dedicated an Instagram post to Rajput on the occasion, calling him an extraordinary soul.
Sharing a picture of both , he added “It still raises my hair to think of the sheer passion and the absolute devotion it took to make this saga see the light of day... But the fruits of one’s labour taste the sweetest when you know you dropped every last shred of sweat to sow them in the first place…”
“Immensely grateful to the entire cast & crew for braving this endeavour to the T. Amidst all the gratitude and love, I can’t help but be reminded of the grave loss of this extraordinary soul who remains etched to the legacy of this film. I can still feel Mansoor there in the sacred mountainscapes looking right back at me with his characteristic smile reflecting all the innocence & beauty in this world.”
Last June 14, Rajput passed away. The Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating his death.
