Shiamak Davar proud of protege Sushant Singh Rajput's journey

Bollywood's celebrated choreographer Shiamak Davar says he always knew Sushant Singh Rajput -- who once worked as a background dancer as part of his troupe -- had it in him to make it big. Now that Sushant has cemented his space in the film world, Davar says he feels proud.

"When Sushant wanted to take up engineering, I told him, 'Why don't you take up acting? You're fun, you have a good understanding of the craft'. I felt there was something special about him back then," Davar said in a statement.

"He said, 'I don't know... education is important for me'. I said, 'Just try, if you fail it is okay, but at least try'. He listened to me and then he got a TV role in 'Pavitra Rishta' and then he went on to doing films," Davar added.

Sushant made his film debut with "Kai Po Che", and was last seen on screen in "M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story".

"In '...Dhoni...', he was fabulous beyond words," Davar said and added: "The thing is that he is a very natural actor and that's what I like about him. I knew somewhere that this boy had something".

To top that, Davar -- who has also trained Shahid Kapoor and Varun Dhawan -- said Sushant had always been a good dancer.

"It is so important in the industry nowadays. I am very proud of him and of where he has reached. I am more so proud of him as he hasn't forgotten the faith I had in him. He has always, in every way, always spoken about me as a teacher. Just shows the kind of person he is," said the star choreographer, who has trained some of the top stars of Bollywood, including superstar Shah Rukh Khan.