Manoj Bajpayee says Sushant Singh Rajput's death news hit him badly and felt like a personal loss: He was not mad

Manoj Bajpayee has been in the industry for over thirty years now. The actor faced a lot of struggle and rejections before he could create a niche for himself and make a place here. In a recent interview, Bajpayee has revealed how he faced rejections and the industry was tough on him, hence he had advised Sushant Singh Rajput to be thick-skinned to survive here. Manoj and Sushant had worked together in 'Socnchiriya'. Sushant passed away in June 2020 and Manoj revealed that the news of his death felt like a personal loss to him.
Bajpayee said during a chat with Mid-day, “As far as the industry is concerned, we used to have chats about the industry and its politics. I always told him to keep thick skin nahi toh yeh jaan maar degi tumhari. I had thick skin because I had faced so many rejections. It was a part of my life but a lot of my friends didn’t have that thick skin. They couldn’t face rejections like I did."
Talking further about Sushant, he said, “He was a moody guy, and so am I. The sets of Sonchiriya had me, Ashutosh Rana, Ranvir Shorey and Sushant. We all had our off days. Just before the pandemic, when I went out to shoot, he had called me and said, ‘Manoj bhai, I really crave the mutton you cook so next time when you make it, please invite me over.’"
Manoj further clarifies that Sushant was very intelligent and was not a mad guy, the way people portray him to be. He added, "Nobody knows what happened to him. All of us are only presuming and guessing things. I have worked with him, and I can say he wasn’t a mad guy. He was fairly well-versed in too many things. He was a voracious reader. I found him reading all the time, both on the set and off the set."
He added, “He had great knowledge about quantum physics. He used to talk to me about spiritualism and compare it with quantum physics. He was a fantastic mind. I would not like to come to any conclusion because I really don’t know what happened to him. Even the CBI is yet to come to a conclusion."
The 'Satya' actor revealed that he was sad for three months when he heard that Sushant passed away. "I must tell you that his death news hit me so badly that I was sad for three months as if I had known him so personally and closely," said Manoj.