Sushant Singh Rajput ‘didn’t look the part’ for Pavitra Rishta, Ekta Kapoor convinced channel his smile would win a million hearts

TV and film producer Ekta Kapoor has shared a memory from the days of her hit show Pavitra Rishta, which featured Sushant Singh Rajput and Ankita Lokhande as the lead couple. Ekta has revealed in her latest Instagram post that the channel wasn’t confident about Sushant playing the male lead before she convinced them about his smile doing the magic on screen.

Sharing a promo of the show on Instagram, Ekta wrote, “After being 35 of 50 slots we were out of top 50! This show was a chance @zeetv gave us based on a show #tirumatiselvum ! Wanted to cast a boy as lead who was doing second lead on our other show ! D creative in zee was adamant he dint look d part ! We@convinced them his smile wud win a million hearts.....and it did @sushantsinghrajput.”

Sushant replied to her, “And I’m forever grateful to you ma’am.” Ekta responded to his comment saying, “sushiiiii lobeeee u,” with several heart emojis. Sushant was the second male lead on the show Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil before he was selected for Pavitra Rishta.

Pavitra Rishta also featured Hiten Tejwani in one of its seasons. Reacting to the post, Hiten wrote, “Thank u Eks ..was fortunate and never in my dreams had u thought will be a part of it ..Thank u to all my coactors , technicians , and everyone associated with this show ..Thank u.”

Sushant and Ankita fell in love on sets of Pavitra Rishta. The two, however, ended their relationship after living together for several years. Sushant is now a known name in Bollywood after making his debut with Kai Po Che. He has delivered quite a few successful films such as Dhoni: The Untold Story and the more recent Chhichhore. He also made his digital debut with his 2019 film Drive that premiered on Netflix.

Also read: Danish Sabri reveals Wajid Khan’s trademark reaction if he missed his call: ‘You will miss me when I am no more’

Ankita too made her film debut with Kangana Ranaut film Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi last year. She played the role of her close friend and aide Jhalkari Bai.

Follow @htshowbiz for more