Olympic Medallist Karnam Malleswari Became Sushant Singh Rajput Fan After Watching ‘Chhichhore’

That India’s first Olympic medal-winning woman Karnam Malleswari is not a great film buff becomes clear when she confesses that she still hadn’t watched cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s popular biopic ‘MD Dhoni: The Untold Story’. But something happened and the other night she, along with her husband, watched the same actor’s, i.e. Sushant Singh Rajput's blockbuster ‘Chhichhore’ – and ended up being a fan of the man who had played Dhoni.

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A few days after having watched ‘Chhichhore’, she heard the news that Sushant had committed suicide. She says she just could not believe it. “It was such surprising news. Just a few days ago, I watched ‘Chhichhore’, in which his son fails to clear an examination. My husband and I watched it late at night because of its adult language content. I found the film very interesting; how a father motivates a depressed son,” former ace weightlifter Malleswari told Outlook.

“Chhichhore is a film with a very good message for society, because these days children are not able to handle failure. Apart from ‘Chhichhore’, I have seen the later part of Sushant-starrer ‘Kedarnath’. I liked his acting; quite entertaining,” says the 2000 Olympic bronze medal winner in the 69kg category in Sydney.

“Actually, nobody is a loser; every human being has some talent. And when I saw the news…he [Sushant] was so young [34 years]. He has left behind his father and three sisters. I don’t know what he thought of his family. All this makes me very sad. I really can’t think of the reasons why people do such a thing. I wonder if they do it because they are unable to handle a drop in the name and fame that they have earned. People should learn to handle such situations because not every person can become a doctor or an IAS officer or a politician. If people initially fail in their efforts to get what they desire, they should try again,” insists Malleswari, who turned 45 this month.

It is being said that Sushant was depressed and that might have led to him committing suicide. “Generally speaking, youngsters these days are not able to handle downfalls. Due to small failures, they commit suicide. If they fail an examination, they commit suicide. Someone flunks class X exams, someone isn’t able to clear an entrance exam, or someone loses a national-level exam…they are not even able to handle these things. People these days take such drastic steps, or slip into depression,” she says.

Malleswari claims she never felt depressed even when she was out of form during her playing days. “Personally, even today I can’t understand or feel what depression is. Kasam se (promise), I never felt it. If I face a problem, I think about what route to take to overcome that situation. There’s a saying that if a door closes [by the Almighty], 100 other doors are open up. But these days depression has become so prevalent even among kids. There is no person who does not face problems in life; some or the other problem is attached with everyone. But we should learn how to move ahead,” she says.

Malleswari wonders if people who decide to take the extreme step even think about their near and dear ones. “The person who commits suicide goes, but he leaves behind so much sadness for his family members. I don’t know if people who take the extreme step think about those who love him or like him. Only a very weak-hearted person can take such a step. But I obviously don’t know what exactly goes through the mind of a person who takes his life. From the outside, it gives the impression that the person who commits suicide could be thinking only about himself, and not about what would happen to his family members and his fans etc.,” she says.

Talking about small children, Malleswari says parents should play their roles constructively. “Parents who pay attention to their kids know their capabilities. If they pressurise them to do what they don’t like to do, it is the fault of parents. They should leave the kids alone and only tell them to settle down in the field of their choice. When I started weightlifting in 1987, only my mother supported me – my father was in railway police and busy; he only knew that I was studying and playing. But many people opposed me. They said that if I broke my hands or legs nobody would even marry me. If in 2020, we are saying ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, just imagine about the girls of the time I started weightlifting,” she says.