Even as a young student at the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, Rajpal Yadav was the constant clown. Except, when he was studying.
“Though he was full of fun and always making everybody laugh, Rajpal was very, very hardworking. He was a keen student, who really wanted to learn,” says Kirti Jain, an eminent theatre director and scholar, who was Director, NSD, when Yadav was there.
Yadav belongs to the 1997 batch of NSD, with formidable classmates such as Jaya Seal, Meghna Malik, the late Ashraful Haque and Sunita Chand Rajwar. A year senior to him were talent bombs such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Gitanjali Kulkarni, Swanand Kirkire and the incumbent NSD director, Chittaranjan Tripathi.
Rajpal Yadav had taken a loan of Rs 5 crore to make a film.
On Monday, as news of Yadav’s interim bail trickled in, there was a glimmer of relief for the students and artistes who had been shocked and saddened by the actor’s financial and legal problems.
Yadav had taken a loan of Rs 5 crore to make a film, Ata Pata Laapata, in 2012. The film also marked his arrival as a director. Once the film turned out to be a box-office dud, Yadav found himself deep in debt to Murali Projects Pvt Ltd, a Delhi-based company. Seven cheques issued by Yadav and his wife, Radha Yadav, bounced. The Delhi High Court convicted the couple and a legal battle ensued. Unable to pay the increasing loan amount — it currently stands at Rs 9 crore — earlier this month, the actor surrendered and was incarcerated at Delhi’s Tihar jail for 12 days before being granted interim bail on February 16.
“I remember, once when we met in Delhi, Rajpal proudly told me that he was planning to start his own production company, where he would give an opportunity to aspiring artistes like himself. He wanted to share his success with his family and hometown. I felt so happy for him and so moved by this spirit. Who knew that that very venture will lead to all this disaster?” says Jain.
There are students at NSD, who come from small towns, often against the wishes of their parents, with only the dream of making it big on stage and/or screen. And, the need to prove they didn’t make a wrong decision is very strong. Yadav was one of them. “When he made it in Bollywood, we all felt very happy,” says Jain.
Yadav’s roots are in Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Before being selected to NSD, he had trained as an actor at Bhartendu Natya Academy (BNA) in Lucknow. NSD has always been a bustling hub for creative young people from across India. During Yadav’s time, it was more academic-oriented though there was a lot of work for students. They also had different teachers, with different approaches, who taught them.
Gitanjali Kulkarni says that, even in those years, it was evident that Yadav was an exceptional talent with boundless energy. “He was also very down to earth and a wonderful person. When he went to Mumbai after NSD, he immediately got work. People recognised his talent,” she says.
Among Yadav’s first few films were Tumko Na Bhool Paayenge (2002), in which he starred alongside Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Dia Mirza. In his 2005 film, Main, Meri Patni Aur Woh, an underrated romantic comedy, he plays the lead as an insecure man married to a glamorous woman. The big-ticket films — Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Hungama, Phir Hera Pheri and Garam Masala — followed as Yadav cemented his reputation as a nuanced actor, even in light roles. “He could have been a typical comedian but he chose films that were different. Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon (2003) pushed the envelope,” says Kulkarni. Jain recalls being impressed with Paheli (2005), in which Yadav played Bhoja, who is confused about the antics of a ghost played by Shah Rukh Khan.
Rajpal Yadav in a still from Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Siddiqui, who has known Yadav since their student days at BNA and NSD, calls him a “kamaal ka insaan” and a sensitive human being. In an interview with The Lallantop in 2024, Siddiqui shed light on Yadav’s generosity towards new artistes. “His home used to be like a langar. He has always been giving. When actors like me were struggling, we could go to Rajpal’s house and eat freely,” said the Sacred Games actor.
After his release on bail, Yadav indicated that he has done at least 10 films a year, a sign of the confidence Bollywood has in him. Kulkarni, however, says that financial literacy is “a totally different ball game, even if one is a good or a great artiste”. “It is not necessary that we have the financial understanding,” she adds.
In the industry, nobody is denying that Yadav bungled but they are not giving up on him either. The list of celebrities stepping in to help out is long and glittering — Salman Khan, Sonu Sood, Ajay Devgn, Varun Dhawan, David Dhawan and Siddiqui. Filmmaker Priyadarshan has told the media that he will cast Yadav in his next film for a higher fee to help him tide over his troubles. He first signed Yadav in Malamaal Weekly in 2006 and, after that, the actor has been a mainstay in his films, from Bhagam Bhag (2006) and Chup Chup Ke (2006) to De Dana Dan (2009). The director appears to echo the prevailing sentiment in Bollywood by referring to Yadav as a good person who had blundered.
Yadav is the sort of alumni that the present generation of students at NSD wants to emulate. A faculty member says that NSD, being a government organisation, cannot support Yadav in a sub-judice matter but the students’ union has no such barrier. “The union empathises strongly with Rajpal. They are talking about raising funds. It would be a thoughtful gesture on their part.”
Rajpal Yadav in a still from Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon 
Rajpal Yadav had taken a loan of Rs 5 crore to make a film.
Rajpal Yadav in a still from Bhool Bhulaiyaa
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