On Friday, Indian film actress Ankita Lokhande took to her verified Instagram handle to share an over six-minute-long video of her former show Pavitra Rishta's team paying a heartfelt musical tribute to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput at the Zee Rishtey Awards 2020.
Ankita, who played the lead role alongside Sushant in the popular television serial after which both became a household name and rose to instant fame, too paid a touching tribute to her ex-boyfriend.
The video opens with Ankita Lokhande, who is seen dressed in her 'Pavitra Rishta' avatar, dancing to the hit track 'Saathiya Yeh Tune Kya Kiya' and the serial's theme song after which other Pavitra Rishtra cast members pay their tribute to the late star one after another in the video.
Veteran actor Usha Nadkarni, who played Sushant's onscreen mother Savita Deshmukh in the serial, appeared on-stage and gave an emotional tribute.
As she spoke, the veteran actor fought back tears. He said, 'On screen mera Manav shant aur susheel tha. Off screen, badmash aur natkhat. Pehle pehle usne mere saath bahot masti ki, mujhe bahot gussa aata tha. Lekin baad mein, main bhi uske saath masti karne lagi. Aaj bhi mere dil mein mera Manav basta hai. Sahi mayene mein, yeh hamara pavitra rishta tha (While on-screen, my Manav (Sushant’s name in the serial) was gentle but off-screen, he was naughty. Initially, I would get annoyed but later, I too started having fun with him. Even now, Manav lives in my heart, this was indeed our sacred bond."
In the end, Ankita make another appearance and in a monologue says, "Aaj har dil shant hai, kyunki har dil mein Sushant hai. Kabhi socha nahin tha, woh joh har waqt chand taaron ki baatein karta tha, woh ek din, khud chand taaron se baat karne chalaa jayega. Kabhi socha nahin tha, ki jisse dekh kar auron ne sapne dekhna seekha, ek dinn usse dekh paana sapna bann jayega. Sushant, aaj aap ko yaad kar raha hai, aap ke kutumb ka har rishta, kyunki aap ka aur hamara pavitra rishta nahin, amar rishta hai. Maine kabhi nahin socha tha ki yeh dinn aayega, aur main yeh sab bolungi. We miss you Sushant, we miss you. Thank you (I had never thought that the guy who spoke of the stars, would one day join them. I had never imagined that the one who taught others to dream, it would become a dream to see him. Sushant, the entire team is remembering you as our relationship is not just sacred, but immortal. I had never imagined that one day I would be saying all this. We miss you Sushant. Thank you.)
Ankita Lokhande and Sushant Singh Rajput started dating while shooting for Pavitra Rishta. However, in 2016, the two called it quits.
Tragically, in June earlier this year, Sushant was found hanging in his Bandra apartment. An investigation is the late actor's death is still ongoing.
