Sushant Singh Rajput, the Bollywood actor who passed away 6 years ago, has been remembered by his close friend, writer-director Rumi Jaffery.

Reflecting his close relationship with Rajput, Rumi recalled they were “so close that he would be over at our home almost every evening with his girlfriend Rhea [Chakraborty].”

As per Variety, the Biwi No. 1 screenwriter added, “He was very close to me, my wife and my children.”

Jaffery also reminisces about having meetings and getting together with the Late Bollywood actor.

“We would discuss endless movies that we wanted to make together,” he added. “Kahaan gayi woh shaamein (where have those evenings gone)?”

Jaffery added about his “zest for life,” which was infectious, noting that Rajput was passionate about astronomy.

“He had recently learnt to play the guitar,” Jaffery recalled. “He wanted to learn more and more skills. He didn’t want to limit himself to acting.”

Now, after he died, the date June 14 is engraved in Jaffery’s heart. Rajput’s death in 2020 was occured to him as a real shock.

“I was aware he was not himself in the months before he left us,” Jaffery said about Rajput. “But everything that has happened since then- the hatred, the accusations and counter-accusations, the ugly court cases and most of all, the targeting of his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty… all of this was so painful for those of us who really cared about him.”

He reflects on the aftermath of Rajput’s death, saying the noise that followed often overshadowed the man himself.

According to him, several people who were once distant suddenly surfaced, turning the tragedy into a spectacle and, in the process, gaining unexpected visibility.

He feels Rajput, who disliked the idea of instant fame, would have been disheartened by the “tamasha” that unfolded.

“I still continue to read his messages on my phone,” he admitted. “Usska number delete karne ka mann nahin karta. I still feel he’s alive. His enthusiasm, his excitement about life was infectious. He wanted to do so many things. He wanted to act, direct films, write, and do organic farming. He wanted to live every moment of his life.”