Former Pakistani pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar and the late Indian film star Sushant Singh Rajput are two names you never thought you would use together.
But the Rawalpindi Express recalled meeting Sushant in the year 2016. Akhtar met Sushant in a hotel in Mumbai and regrets not talking to him.
The former pacer revealed that he regrets not having a word with Sushant about life because the actor did not look ‘very confident’.
Sushant’s untimely death through suicide June 14 sent shockwaves across the country.
The actor’s trajectory in the film industry was only going to get better after churning out one hit after another including MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, a biopic on former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“I met him in Olive in Mumbai when I was about to leave India in 2016. To be honest, he did not look very confident to me. He went past me with his head down when my friend told me he is doing MS Dhoni’s film,” said Akhtar in a YouTube video.
“I thought I will have to watch his acting now, He has come from a humble background and he is making a good film. The film did turn out to be successful but I regret not stopping him there and having a word with him about life. I could have shared experiences of my life with him, maybe I could have talked to him like the way I do which could have given him a broad spectrum in life. But I regret not talking to him,” he added.
Akhtar also touched on the subject of the allegations levelled against some of Hindi cinema’s biggest superstars like Salman Khan, calling it ‘unfair’ to blame someone without substantial proof.
“Ending your life should never be an option. Setbacks are an asset in life but when you know you have problems you should discuss it. Deepika Padukone reached out after her break up that she was suffering from anxiety and needed help. I think Sushant also needed help,” added Akhtar in the video.
PNN