When Rajkummar Rao lived off one packet of biscuit a day, had just Rs 18 in his bank account: ‘That was tough’

He said, “It was difficult being an outsider. I grew up in a joint family in Gurgaon and at that time, it was just a small town. I fell in love with cinema as a kid and knew this is what I wanted to do. I used to ride a bicycle 70 km up and down to Delhi when I was doing theatre. It was like going to meet your girlfriend. I worked really hard at FTII. I wanted to learn as much as I could.”

He added, “Eventually, I moved to Mumbai, but that was tough. There were times when I lived on one Parle-G ka packet a day with just Rs 18 in my bank account. Luckily, I had friends from film school who helped. But I never had a Plan B. I always wanted to become an actor.”

Rajkummar broke out with roles in Love Sex Aur Dhoka and Ragini MMS, but gained further prominence with acclaimed performances in films such as Shahid, Kai Po Che! and Aligarh. He has also appeared in mainstream hits such as Stree and Bareilly Ki Barfi and also starred in the Oscar-nominated film The White Tiger.