Albeit playfully, Sushant Singh Rajput found himself appealing to fans to purchase tickets for a previous release, Sonchiriya, if they wished to see him 'survive in Bollywood'. Unfortunately, it took his demise to assemble cinephiles for a final outpouring of love, as they whole-heartedly celebrated his swansong, the Friday release, Dil Bechara.

A whopping 95 million viewers logged on to Disney+Hotstar within the first 24 hours of the film's release to bid adieu to the actor. The kind of traction that Mukesh Chhabra's directorial debut garnered outshone that of any other film, says Ormax Media, a viewership tracking and consulting firm.