6 things about Rajkummar Rao's road to fame that you need to know about, from his Boogie woogie audition to meeting his idol
Things about Rajkummar that you need to know
Updated : August 31, 2021 06:33 PM IST
Rajkummar Rao is an actor par excellence and has a versatile track record to prove it. The actor who is busy writing new rules to stardom in Bollywood, prefers to keep his private life private but has time and again spoke about his life outside the movies and his humble beginnings. From being trained in martial arts to his attempt at cracking the Boogie Woogie audition once, here are a few things about Rajkummar Rao’s life before becoming a star you might be unaware about as he turns 37.
Background in theatre
The Badhaai Do actor hails from Gurgaon where he completed his school and went on to study at the University of Delhi where he joined a theatre group. Rajkummar Rao always wanted to be an actor and later went onto join a film course in FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) in Pune. He came to Mumbai in 2008 to start out his journey as an actor and finally kicked off his career with the 2010 film Love, Sex Aur Dhokha.
View this post on Instagram
Inspiration
Rajkummar Rao is a bonafide Shah Rukh Khan fan like many actors of the new generation and had once revealed he was inspired by the superstar in his years growing up to take up acting. He had told Humans of Bombay once, “It wasn’t rosy though––I didn’t get a lot of work after I came to Mumbai. I only managed small ads here and there. Things you won’t even recollect––I’d be like the 10th person standing in some ad! I made about Rs. 10,000 a month––but still, there were days where I didn’t have money, and I’d call my friends asking to share their meal.”
View this post on Instagram
First meeting with his idol
Like many SRK fans, Rajkummar too spent hours waiting outside Shah Rukh Khan’s house to get a glimpse of the superstar when he first came to Mumbai. It was much later though that he was able to finally see him. The Stree actor was shooting in Mehboob Studio where Shahr Rukh was present and he was finally able to see his idol in the flesh in his vanity.
View this post on Instagram
Struggle before the fame
Rajkummar Rao has had his fair share of struggles before he could finally make it as an actor. The actor had once revealed in an interview that his teachers paid his school fee for two years because his family couldn’t afford it. In Mumbai, while struggling, the actor revealed there was a time when he had just Rs. 18 in his bank account when he needed nearly Rs. 20000 to just survive.
View this post on Instagram
Action hero
While he is one of the most versatile stars in Bollywood, not many people know he trained in taekwondo when he was young and has also won several medals for it. The actor had once admitted he’d like to star in an action film once to be able to put his martial arts skills on display.
View this post on Instagram
Tried and failed
The actor got rejected during a Boogie Woogie audition when was in class 11. The actor admitted as much when he met the show’s judges Javed Jaffrey and Naved Jaffrey on the sets of a dance reality show years later.