From theatre to soap operas, followed by reality shows to films, Sushant Singh Rajput wanted to make it big.
When he essayed the role of Team India's most-successful skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he got off to a successful career in Bollywood. He was surely a dark horse destined to win.
Above all, he was self-made and had no Godfather in the entertainment industry.
The tech-savvy actor had a big check-list-cum-wish-list and kept looking at it, sometimes adding, at times deleting.
But, on Sunday, the promising life was cut short, when the 34-year-old allegedly committed suicide at his rented flat in Bandra, giving the biggest shocker to the entertainment industry.
According to reports, he was undergoing treatment for depression.
Born in Patna to a humble family, he was a promising student and moved to Delhi to join the Delhi College of Engineering, but cut short education to go where he wanted - he landed in Mumbai to pursue a career in acting.
He joined the best - the dance classes of Shaimak Davar and drama classes of Barry John. In 2005-06, he was part of the background dancers in awards ceremonies. But, he knew where to move - he joined Ekjute theatre group of Nadira Babbar and worked for close to 3 years.
The first break that he got was a TV ad of Nestle Munch, when his face got recognised. Then around 23, he was noticed by Ekta Kappor's Balaji Telefilms, when he joined the cast in Star Plus's romantic drama Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil (2008), his first big project.
Then followed award-winning performance in Zee TV's popular soap opera Pavitra Rishta (2009–11). But, he did not stop there and participated in reality shows - Jhalak Dikhla Ja (2010-11) and Zara Nachke Dikha (2010), which too were successful.
He had a relationship with co-star Ankita Lokhande for six years, but they broke up in 2016. After serials and reality shows, he got picked up for silver screen and made debut in Kai Po Che!, based on Chetan Bhagat's The 3 Mistakes of My Life.
Thereafter, he got a chance in Shuddh Desi Romance (2013), PK (2014), Detective Byomkesh Bakshi (2015).
The 2016 film, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, based on the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman, made him an household name. Then came Raabta (2017), Welcome to New York, Kedarnath (2018), Sonchiriya, Chhichore (2019). Last year, he also worked in Drive, that was released on Netflix.
He was also signed for Chanda Mama Door Se but it was yet to begin filming.
A tech-savvy person, he had a huge collection of books and antiques. He was also interested in astronomy and had a huge telescope at home, a Meade 14" LX600. He was a Lord Shiva believer and often spoke on the cosmic importance of Om.
A driving enthusiast, he had a sports bike BMW K 1300 R motorcycle, a Land Rover SUV and Maserati Quattroporte. He had also purchased land on the Moon - in a region called Mare Mudcovirnse or the Sea of Muscovy.
He had visited the NASA Space Center and Disneyworld and wanted to travel to the Moon.