Journey Matters More Than Destination: Sushant Singh Rajput

The actor, who will soon be seen living the life of cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the silver screen via “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story“, said that he stumbled upon many valuable self discoveries while preparing for the biopic.

“The one thing I have in common with Dhoni, and I realised it when I started filming, is that I don’t obsess about the future. I don’t have goals… I don’t take myself seriously and that is what drives me,” Sushant said at India Today Mind Rocks Youth Summit here on Saturday.

“It’s the journey that matters more than the destination. Right now is very important,” he added.

The actor, who has been a part of offbeat films like “Kai Po Che!” and “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!“, also narrated how he dreamt of buying a fancy car since fourth grade, and how his fascination vanished after he bought the car.

Talking of “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story”, Sushant said it is not an attempt to glorify the cricketer.

“We are not trying to glorify Dhoni. We are not over-glamourising anything. Right from his birth to the 2011 World cup six that he hit, we are showing everything.

“We are punctuating the belief Dhoni had in himself. There was not even an iota of doubt that if this thing doesn’t happen, then there is a plan B. The plan B is to go back to plan A. One should not dream or work to achieve something to get a high status in society.

“You work for your dream because that’s the only thing that drives you. That’s the only thing that keeps you awake for that extra five minutes and wakes you up five minutes early in the morning — I want to do it and I will do it.”

The actor is being applauded for his portrayal as Dhoni in the biopic even before the film’s release. And Sushant says the mantra for giving the role his best was “total immersion”.

He said: “Watching videos for hours and hours to a point that subconsciously you pick points and nuances. After three to four months into the preparation, people used to say that ‘You actually have something in common with Dhoni’ and I used to think that I am doing it right.”

Sushant learnt some of cricket’s tricks from former Indian cricketer Kiran More, who he said was a tough taskmaster, who treated him like a professional cricketer rather than an actor.

He even met Dhoni for the preparation.

Recalling his meeting with Dhoni, the actor said: “The first time, I asked him to tell me his story. The second time we met, I had prepared a set of 250 hypothetical multiple-choice-questions to understand him better. And the third time we met, I asked him about his strengths.”

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story is set to release on September 30. And Sushant says there are lot of untold stories that the film will highlight.