Hollywood special effects veteran roped in for Sushant's Chanda Mama Door Ke

After MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016) and the soon-to-be released reincarnation drama Raabta, Sushant Singh Rajput’s next project is sci-fi film Chanda Mama Door Ke in which he plays an astronaut.

Buzz has it that Rajput will head to America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to prepare for his role. Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, director Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan has roped in noted Hollywood special effects professional John Palmer for Chanda Mama Door Ke. Palmer is said to be working on designing a special suit for Rajput. The Hollywood professional has worked on films like The Martian (2015) and Apollo 13 (1995).

Confirming the same, Rajput told Mumbai Mirror tabloid, “John [Palmer] and Sanjay [Puran Singh Chauhan] have been working on this beautiful suit and I can't wait to get into it. John will fly down to India soon and also meet me at NASA when I am there for the prep. The suit has 11 layers and can be worn during underwater training in a 40-foot-deep swimming pool.”

Palmer, who has spent 45 years in cinema, largely working on space films, said, "I have designed the spacesuits for which I researched latest Russian and Chinese suit models, along with Indian designs from ISRO. I've gone through thousands of designs with Sanjay before selecting these which incorporate Indian elements that are not only aesthetically appealing but functional too. Going by Sushant's fitness level and dedication, he's definitely up for the difficult training."

Being an astronaut was a childhood dream for Rajput, but he had to give it up as his mother wasn’t keen on him taking up such a career. "I wanted to be an astronaut but since I couldn't figure out how to pursue it, I decided I would be an air force pilot instead. But my mother didn't want me to pursue these professions so I started studying engineering instead, but even then I was hooked to astrophysics. But now I'm getting to live my dream with this film,” said Rajput, who considers American astronaut Neil Armstrong his idol.

Meanwhile, Rajput put out a video of the kind of preparations that are needed to play such a role.

A method actor, Rajput knows how to get into the skin of his characters. He was widely appreciated for his portrayal of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the cricketer’s biopic last year. With Chanda Mama Door Ke, sky is the limit.