The actor that has made it to the top of Bollywood purely on his talent and content-driven films is Rajkummar Rao. He has managed to be an indie darling with movies like Shahid, Aligarh, and Omerta. He's also delivered commercially with films like Stree and Bareilly ki Barfi. Rao is considered to be one of the most consistently bankable stars today.
Rajkummar Rao is from a family that's not particularly well off financially. During his schooling days, his family didn't have money to pay for the schooling. His teachers stepped in and paid for the school fees for more than two years. When he reached Mumbai, he was earning 10k monthly while he needed 25k-30k to survive. Frequently Rao ran out of money with only 18rs in his account.
He used to borrow money from friends or ask them to feed him. It was a bleak situation, but Rajkummar was extremely determined to be an actor. He kept on grinding against the odds, and today he demands 8 figure pay for his work. It truly is a rag to riches story that serves as an inspiration for millions.
Rajkummar Rao is a firm believer in the camp of method acting. He has gone out of his way to do some wild things to create believability in his characters. Here are the real things Rao has done for his craft-
Rajkummar Rao, from his schooling days, knew that he wanted to be an actor. During 11th class, he saw a girl playing Basketball that reminded him of Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. He decided to imitate SRK, and they both started dating each other. The only problem was that she already had a Jat boyfriend.
About 25 Jats beat up Rajkummar Rao, and the only thing he kept on shouting was, Don't hit my face, I want to be an actor. This is a story that we still laugh thinking about, and it's quite adorable.
Rajkummar Rao and Patralekha met each other on the sets of a short film during their time in FTII. They both fell in love with each other and have been living together currently. They've even acted together in the movie CityLights directed by Hansal Mehta. So is there a possibility of marriage in their future? Currently, no, as both the actors are focused on their careers and don't feel ready yet. The couple is just adorable in their Instagram photos, and we can't wait for them to get married.
Rajkummar is constantly experimenting and trying out new avatars for his character. However, he probably outdid himself so much that we're pretty sure even the audience didn't recognize him for it. We're talking about Rajkummar Rao playing a 324-year-old man in the movie Raabta.
He was heavily laden with full-body makeup making him look completely bizarre. The movie flopped badly, which further makes his role shrouded in mystery, with very few aware of it. It yet again shows that Rajkummar is not obsessed with fame. His focus is always on playing interesting and unique characters.
Rajkummar Rao is one of the most brilliant and talented actors to come out in the 2010s. He can do almost any genre with a foot in commercial and art-driven projects. Rao is making India proud with the choice of cinema and might even get into the Hollywood dream. We cannot wait for this actor's next experimental role and how Rajkummar will surprise all.
