Rajkumar Yadav known by his screen name Rajkummar Rao, an Indian actor is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards, and an Asia Pacific Screen Award.
| Bio/Wiki | |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Rajkumar Yadav |
| Nickname(s) | Raj, Colgate |
| Profession | Actor |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 175 cm |
| in meters- 1.75 m | |
| in feet inches- 5’ 9” | |
| Weight (approx.) | in kilograms- 70 kg |
| in pounds- 154 lbs | |
| Body Measurements (approx.) | - Chest: 40 inches |
| - Waist: 32 inches | |
| - Biceps: 14 inches | |
| Eye Colour | Dark Brown |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Career | |
| Debut | Bollywood Film: Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) |
| Web Series: Bose: Dead/Alive (2017) | |
| Awards, Achievements | 2013 |
| National Film Award - Best Actor for the film 'Shahid' | |
| Rajkummar Rao With His National Film Award - Best Actor | |
| 2014 | |
| Filmfare Award - Critics Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for the film 'Shahid' | |
| 2017 | |
| • Asia Pacific Screen Award - Best Performance by an Actor for the film 'Newton' | |
| • CNN-IBN Indian of the Year - Entertainment | |
| • PETA's Hottest Vegetarian Celebrity - Hottest Vegetarian | |
| • Indian Film Festival of Melbourne - Best Actor (Special Mention) for the film 'Trapped' | |
| • GQ Men of the Year Award - Actor of the Year | |
| 2018 | |
| • Filmfare Award - Critics Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) for the film 'Trapped' | |
| • Filmfare Award - Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for the film 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' | |
| • Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Award - Best Actor for the film 'Newton' | |
| • FOI Online Award - Best Actor in a Leading Role for the film 'Newton' | |
| • FOI Online Award - Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film ' Bareilly Ki Barfi' | |
| • IMW Digital Award - Best Actor in a Web Series | |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 1984-08-31 |
| Age (as in 2018) | 34 Years |
| Birthplace | Gurugram, Haryana, India |
| Zodiac sign/Sun sign | Virgo |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Gurugram, Haryana, India |
| School | Blue Bells Model School, Gurugram |
| College/University | • Film and Television Institute of India, Pune |
| • Delhi University, New Delhi | |
| Educational Qualification | Bachelor of Arts (B. A.) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Caste | Ahir (a branch of Yadav community) |
| Food Habit | Vegetarian |
| Address | A rented flat at Oberoi Springs in Andheri, Mumbai |
| Hobbies | Reading, Travelling, Dancing |
| Controversies | • In 2017, while hosting the opening ceremony of the 48th International Film Festival of India with a fractured leg, he joked about Smriti Irani's name and said, "What a co-incidence Majid Majidi (director of the IFFI’s opening film Beyond the Clouds) is an 'Irani' just like our union minister Smriti Irani." When Smriti Irani took the stage, she said, "Rajkummar, the entire country should know this (referring to his joke) that you only poked fun at a minister and it only shows as a government how tolerant we are." |
| • In 2018, he had a fall out with the '5 Weddings' director, Namrata Singh Gujral, who said, "Either he didn't want it to release in India or do the Hindi dub, or thought it was just a small film, but I have never seen an actor behave like he did. I don't think I can forgive him for that." | |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Affair/Girlfriend | Patralekha (Actress) |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | N/A |
| Parents | Father- Satyapal Yadav (Worked as a Patwari, Died in 2019) |
| Mother- Kamlesh Yadav (a Homemaker, Died in 2016) | |
| Siblings | Brother- Amit |
| Sister- Monika | |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Cuisine(s) | Italian, Indian |
| Favourite Beverage | Tea |
| Favourite Actor(s) | Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marlon Brando |
| Favourite Actress(es) | Madhubala, Konkona Sen Sharma |
| Favourite Film(s) | Bollywood- Mohabbatein, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge |
| Hollywood- The Godfather | |
| Favourite TV Show | Game Of Thrones |
| Favourite Band | Coldplay |
| Favourite Author(s) | Saadat Hasan Manto, Ayn Rand, Walter Isaacson |
| Favourite Book(s) | The Bhagavad Gita, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, The Godfather by Mario Puzo, My Autography by Charlie Chaplin, Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, You Can Win by Shiv Khera |
| Favourite Destination(s) | Goa, Amsterdam, Budapest |
| Style Quotient | |
| Car Collection | Audi Q7 |
| Bike | Harley Davidson Fat Bob (bought in October 2019; worth Rs. 14.69 Lakh) |
Some Lesser Known Facts About Rajkummar Rao
- Does Rajkummar Rao smoke?: No
- Does Rajkummar Rao drink alcohol?: No
- Rajkummar was born into a middle-class movie enthusiast joint family of Prem Nagar in Gurugram.
- Growing up, he was fascinated by Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, and Manoj Bajpayee. He was passionate about Bollywood to such as extent that he used to imitate Aamir Khan’s train stunt from ‘Ghulam’ (1998).
- When he was in 5th standard, he did training in martial arts and was a national level gold medalist in Taekwondo.
- He was fond of music since his childhood and wanted to make a career in it. Moreover, when he was 16 years old, he auditioned for a dance reality show in Mumbai.
- He started acting in his 10th standard with school plays and continued doing plays in college as well. He had a rigorous schedule in college days; as every day he used to do a travelling of 4-5 hours from Gurugram to Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College in south Delhi, and then, to attend his theatre classes at Mandi House, before returning back home at late night.
- While he was working at a Delhi-based theatre group ‘Kshitij’ for a year, his senior, Mukesh Chhabra was very much impressed with his acting, who later cast Rajkummar in two of his breakthrough films, ‘Kai Po Che’ (2013) and ‘Shahid’ (2013).
- He was born as “Raj Kumar Yadav,” but on the suggestion of her mother, based upon numerology, he changed it to “Rajkummar Rao.”
- He first met Patralekha at FTII but fell in love during the making of a short film. Later, she made her acting debut with him in ‘CityLights’ (2014).
- After completing his course from the FTII, he moved to Mumbai in 2008, and during his struggling days, he used to get small roles in ads.
- While talking about his struggling days in an interview, he said,
It used to be tough times for me. I come from a very humble middle-class background and there was a time in school when I didn’t have money and my teachers paid my school fees for two years. When I came to the city, we were living in a really small house. I was paying Rs 7000 of my share which I thought was too much. I needed around 15-20000 every month to survive and there were times I would get a notification that I have only 18 rupees left in my account. My friend would have 23 rupees.” - He made his first Bollywood appearance as a “News Reader” in the film ‘Rann’ (2010), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal. For this role, he was paid around Rs. 3000.
- After giving numerous auditions for one and a half years, he earned his debut role in Ekta Kapoor‘s ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ (2010).
- He got just Rs. 16,000 remunerations for his first film ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha.’
- He did the film ‘Talaash’ (2012) just to share the screen space with one of his inspirations, Aamir Khan.
- For his role of “Mohak” in the film ‘Raabta’ (2017), he went through a tiresome make-up process of applying prosthetics for 5-6 hours every day to look like a 324-year-old man.
- He wasn’t a voracious reader before, but after reading the biography of Robert De Niro, books have become an integral part of his life.
- He is an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha.
- He is an avid dog lover.
