Tahir Raj Bhasin Misses Sushant Singh Rajput As Chhichhore Wins National Award

It was indeed a bitter-sweet moment for the cast and crew of Chhichhore, as on one side, they were elated to celebrate its victory at the National Film Awards, but on the other side, they were missing the lead actor of film Sushant Singh Rajput, who passed away last year.

In his recent tete-a-tete with a leading daily, Tahir Raj Bhasin remembered his Chhichhore co-star Sushant and said that the story would have been incomplete without him. "The victory was a day of celebration and a day of remembrance for Sushant. The story could not have been told without him," said Tahir.

Speaking about Chhichhore being honoured with the National Award Tahir said that very few films give actors the satisfaction of a blockbuster success and critical acclaim.

"The National Award is the cherry on the cake and it feels out of this world for Chhichhore to have got this coveted recognition. The film was about breaking the notions of what being a winner and loser is in your own mind and about finding your own definition of joy and success. I think back today to the epic experience of shooting Chhichhore. We shot at the IIT Bombay campus and by the end of it, all of us felt like we had relived our college life with Nitesh Tiwari playing our de facto gang leader," added the Mardaani actor.

Reminiscing about the day when he was offered Chhichhore, he said that when he read the script, he had no doubt that it would be a special story.

"Derek was the leader of the Hostel 4 boys and what attracted me to the part was the fact that there was a soft vulnerable side to him and how emotional he was for his hostel yet he had to keep up this veneer of a hard exterior. It was finding the balance between both those acts that made the part challenging to do," concluded Tahir.