Feel numb at this point: Naveen Polishetty reacts to 'Anni' Sushant Singh Rajput's death

Sushant Singh Rajput's shocking and sudden death has plunged the Hindi film industry into mourning. Many are still coming to terms with the shock of the news. Among them are his Chhichhore co-stars. The 2019 Nitesh Tiwari film was among the actor's big hits and marked his return to box-office success.

Actor Naveen Polishetty, who made his debut with the film, said he was ''numb'' at the news of Sushant Singh Rajput's demise. Polishetty played Acid, a rowdy, outgoing member of the group in Tiwari's ensemble film.

In a text to Cinestaan.com, he wrote, "I have just received a call about Sushant's death. I am extremely heartbroken. I met him on the sets of Chhichhore. He did not make me feel like it was my first film and by the end of the film he became like a brother to me. The manner in which we have lost him is extremely shocking. I feel numb at this point and not in a position to talk more. I really wish he finds peace."

The film, incidentally, had Rajput's Anni and his friends trying to explain their own failures and the need to accept them to Anni's suicidal teenage son.

Polishetty's sentiment was echoed by many of the late actor's co-stars. Varun Sharma, another prominent member of Chhichhore's cast, shared a picture of him with Rajput in happier times as a tribute.

A third Chhichhore actor, Tahir Raj Bhasin, too shared a picture from the sets of Nitesh Tiwari's film. Describing Rajput as 'the boy who dared to dream', Bhasin wrote, 'Your passionately curious intellect, deep fascination for astronomy and what lies beyond, lead to the most awesome on-set conversations.'

Bhasin added that the world 'lost a gem much too soon' and expressed sadness at Rajput having lost 'what must have been an extremely difficult mental health battle' and expressed the hope that 'society wakes up to the need to more urgently and openly address mental health'.

Mukesh Chhabra, the late actor's close friend and producer of his upcoming film Dil Bechara (2020), shared a post asking people to refrain from contacting him and to allow him to grieve in peace.

Chhabra was key to casting Sushant Singh Rajput in his first film, Kai Po Che! (2013), which gave him his break in Hindi cinema. He was also set to make his directorial debut with Dil Bechara, a remake of The Fault In Our Stars (2014).