Bengal wax artist makes statue of actor Sushant Singh Rajput

    Asansol (WB), Sep 19 (PTI) A veteran wax artist of
West Bengal has sculpted a full-sized statue of actor Sushant
Singh Rajput as a mark of tribute.
    Sushanto Roy (64), state's first wax artist, has
chiselled the statue, having striking resemblance with the
actor who was found hanging at his Mumbai apartment on June
14.
    Sushant Singh Rajput's death case is currently being
probed by CBI and other central agencies.
    It took Roy one and half month to complete the statue
of the actor at his studio here in West Burdwan district.
    The veteran artist had previously sculpted wax statues
of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, football legend Diego Maradona
and Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu since 2001.
    His wax sculpting of former President Pranab Mukherjee
occupies a pride of place at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
    "I sculpt the statues of personalities with whom I
feel emotionally attached in some way or the other. Whose life
and works inspire me. Be it Amitabh Bachchan, Jyoti Basu,
Pranab Mukherjee or Maradona.
    "The wax statue of Sushant was also made for the same
reason, though I regret that I will never be able to show it
to the actor, whose struggle in acting career should be an
inspiration to all aspiring actors," Roy, who has decided to
keep the statue in his own museum, told PTI on Saturday.
    The veteran sculptor also said that news of Sushant
being a victim of nepotism also struck a chord with him "as
despite being the first wax artist in the state having earned
plaudits from big personalities, my request for a plot for a
gallery in city or recognition from the government had never
been considered by either the state or central governments."
    "Both Sushant and me had been fighting against odds
but never gave up," he said drawing parallels.
    He recalled despite having wax statues at Jaipur and
the wax museum in Rajarhat, the only recognition he got was
from the Mamata Banerjee government in 2013 as a citation
paper in recognition of his works.
    "I had also sculpted wax statues of Mamata Banerjee
and Narendra Modi but didn't have the scope to show it to
them," the 1980 gold medal winner from Indian Art College
said.
    The veteran craftsman is spending his entire savings
to build a state of the art private museum in Asansol to
preserve his works for display.
    "I am training five young artists to acquire the
skills in wax sculpture. I will be no more one day but my
craft will live on through their works in future," he said.
    Roy had also made wax statues of cricket icons Sachin
Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly and both reportedly praised his
works. PTI COR SUS RG
RG RG

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)