Popular YouTube sensation vlogger Pewdiepie on Friday made a video to commemorate actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who died by suicide last month. In the video, which had garnered over 2.7 lakh views at the time of writing, Pewdiepie plays out an older video of Sushant’s 2016 speech at Avenues, SJMSOM in IIT-Bombay, where he spoke of his dreams and what it was like to achieve success.
Pewdiepie begins the video by saying, “I won't pretend to know who he was, and say I was the biggest fan. But I heard about him recently and looked him up, I felt he was a cool dude.”
He goes on to say that he can relate to Sushant as he too had similar experiences in life. He too had dropped out of engineering midway and was an introvert. There was a lot of pressure in his life too, he says.
Quipping that Sushant followed him on Instagram, Pewdiepie applauds the actor's statements about money and success. At the end of the video, he says that Sushant was such a smart guy, and that “it does not seem like he would have taken his own life.” However, he says he will not wade into the whole controversy because the video was old.
“He is such a cool dude, such a smart guy, such a good message as well, I so wholeheartedly believe in, such a tragedy it really makes me sad to think that he passed away at such a young age. I mentioned before in a video that the police say he died from suicide and personally for someone that thinks in the moment, I cannot make sense out of [him] committing suicide. There has been this whole controversy, and whether he really did it,” Pewdiepie says in the video.
“Such a cool dude… he wanted to share and his idea of living in the moment does not seem like he would have taken his own life. I don’t believe that at all. Rest in peace, Sushant, I would have loved to meet you. Thank you for being you,” Pewdiepie says.
This is Pewdiepie’s second video where he speaks about Sushant. In a previous shorter video, dated June 29, Pewdiepie had said, “I have seen people talk about it and there was something about Sushant Singh Rajput. It was a university talk of this guy. He seemed like such a good dude, like a genuinely good dude. So people were pointing to nepotism in the industry and then it somehow got in clash with T-Series and that is why Unsub from T-Series got trending.”
“It’s such a shame he decided to end his life. I don’t know everything about him but from what I saw he seemed a really good dude and someone the industry needs. So it’s a huge loss. Rest in peace,” Pewdiepie said.
34-year-old Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his residence in Mumbai on June 14. He was known for films such as Kai Po Che, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Kedarnath and Chhichhore. His death sparked a massive discussion on mental health and nepotism in the film industry.
Pewdiepie’s video comes hours before the release of the Sushant-starrer Dil Bechara. Dil Bechara is the official Hindi remake of 2014 Hollywood romantic drama The Fault in Our Stars, which was based on John Green's popular novel of the same name. The film, which will release on Disney+ Hotstar at 7.30 pm on Friday, will see Sushant in a leading role alongside debutante Sanjana Sanghi, and Saif Ali Khan in an interesting cameo.
If you are aware of anyone facing mental health issues or feeling suicidal, please provide help. Here are some helpline numbers of suicide-prevention organisations that can offer emotional suppport to individuals and families.
Tamil Nadu
State health department's suicide helpline: 104
Sneha Suicide Prevention Centre - 044-24640050 (listed as the sole suicide prevention helpline in Tamil Nadu)
Andhra Pradesh
Life Suicide Prevention: 78930 78930
Roshni: 9166202000, 9127848584
Karnataka
Sahai (24-hour): 080 65000111, 080 65000222
Kerala
Maithri: 0484 2540530
Chaithram: 0484 2361161
Both are 24-hour helpline numbers.
Telangana
State government's suicide prevention (tollfree): 104
Roshni: 040 66202000, 6620200
SEVA: 09441778290, 040 27504682 (between 9 amd and 7 pm)
Aasara offers support to inidviduals and families during an emotional crisis, for those dealing with mental health issues and suicidal ideation, and to those undergoing trauma after the suicide of a loved one.
24x7 Helpline: 9820466726
Click here for working helplines across India.