When Sushant Singh Rajput 'dropped' his surname to support Padmaavat against the fringe

Sanjay Leela Bansali's period drama titled Padmaavat, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor in lead roles had faced backlash before its release. There were protests over the film for months in different parts of the country since January 2017. However, amid the chaos, due to alleged incorrect historical depiction, Sushant Singh Rajput who passed away on Sunday had taken a stand and removed his last name, 'Rajput', to condemn the attacks on Sanjay Leela Bhansali's sets of Padmaavat (then Padmavati). 

The chaos intensified in November as the movie's release date approached. The Karni Sena vandalised the sets of the film. After which, Sushant Singh Rajput dropped his surname on Twitter as a mark of protest against the fringe organisation that also misbehaved with the team of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film and generally ran rampant.

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Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "We would suffer till the time we're obsessed with our surnames. If you're that courageous,give us your first name to acknowledge.#padmavati" After that Sushant also hit back at a troll and said that he has not changed his surname. The actor had also written that he is probably 10 times more Rajput than someone else is if people are implying courage. Further, his thread read that he is against the cowardly action.

"There is no religion or cast bigger than humanity and Love & compassion makes us human. Any other division is done for selfish gains," Sushant had added in another tweet. However, many fans had hailed Sushant's step and his support towards Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film. 

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Sushant Singh Rajput's demise 

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput passed away at his Bandra residence in Mumbai on June 14, 2020. The police have not recovered any suicide note from his house yet. His last rites were held at the Vile Parle crematorium in Mumbai on Monday. Rajput's funeral was attended by his family, including his father who arrived from his hometown Patna.

Some of Sushant's friends from the film industry also attended. Namely, Kriti Sanon, Shraddha Kapoor, Varun Sharma, Vivek Oberoi, Abhishek Kapoor and wife Pragya. Actors Rajkummar Rao, Krystle D'Souza, Rithvik Dhanjani among others also attended Sushant's funeral. 

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An official statement by Sushant’s publicist

"It pains us to share that Sushant Singh Rajput is no longer with us. We request his fans to keep him in their thoughts and celebrate his life, and his work as they have done so far. We request the media to help us maintain privacy at this moment of grief."

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