'People grow apart, it's unfortunate': Sushant Singh Rajput on Ankita Lokhande split

Close on the heels of the Malaika Arora-Arbaaz Khan divorce reports in March came news that another popular actor couple — Sushant Singh Rajput and longtime girlfriend Ankita Lokhande — had also separated.[caption id="attachment_2766064" align="alignleft" width="380"] Ankita Lokhande with Sushant Singh Rajput. Image from IBNlive[/caption]Sushant and Ankita, who met on the sets of the Balaji Telefilms TV series Pavitra Rishta in 2009, were among the telly industry’s most prominent couples, and enjoyed a tremendous fan following. While Sushant quit the show to make a career in Bollywood, with films like Kai Po Che, Shuddh Desi Romance, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy and the upcoming MSD: The Untold Story to his credit, Ankita continued with Pavitra Rishta until the serial ended. She had not been seen in any onscreen projects recently.Speculation about Sushant and Ankita’s split intensified after a series of conflicting statements by the duo. Other reports quoted sources close to the couple as saying that Ankita’s unwillingness to return to work, “possessiveness” over Sushant, and “substance dependencies” had led to the break-up. Still other sources hinted that Sushant’s “infidelities” and propensity to stray had caused trouble in the relationship.However, Sushant finally broke his silence on the subject with a series of tweets on Tuesday night. In the tweets, he explained that it wasn’t the issues mentioned in media reports that had caused the break-up with Ankita. Instead, it was simply an unfortunate case of two individuals growing apart over time.On 24 March, Ankita had tweeted a message for Sushant just after the reports of their separation were published. In the tweet, she indicated that no matter what, the duo would always be there for each other.The couple had reportedly planned to tie the knot in December this year.