Meet actor whose school fees was paid by teachers, survived on biscuits, now competes with Prabhas, Shah Rukh, Ranbir

At Raj Shamani’s podcast, Rajkummar said that his school teachers paid for him and his siblings for 3 years. "For schoolbooks and tuition fees, she’d ask our relatives for help sometimes. That’s how she raised us. There was a two or three-year period where school teachers paid our fees because there were three of us and there was no money for school fees. They didn’t want us to be taken out of school, so they chipped in for us."

In another interview, Rajkummar said, "I started preparing to become an actor after school. After completing school, I joined Sri Ram Centre in Delhi, it’s an acting school. I was 18 at the time. So, somebody told me to join college for graduation so that I could get a bus pass. In that way, you can save money. I got to know this very late. Before that, I used to go to acting school on a bicycle and would ride the cycle for 70 kms up and down."

The Shahid actor further said that during his pre-fame struggle in Mumbai, he only had Rs 18 in his bank account. In those days he would survive on Parle G biscuits and Frooti. "I remember once I was left with only Rs 18 in my account and that too in a city like Mumbai. I used to spend very frugally. We three used to live in one flat and I used to skip lunch and have one Parle G and Frooti for lunch. My lunch would cost me Rs 4 at the time.”

In the show, Rajkummar revealed that he used to go to a house to teach dance to a seven-year-old and his first salary was Rs 300. The actor also revealed that he spent his first salary buying groceries for the family.

He said, "I was in high school when I used to go teach dance to a 7-year-old girl at her house. I used to get Rs 300 for training her. The first time when I received my first salary, I think it was six notes of Rs 50. I was so happy because the financial situation at my house was not good in those days.” He added with pride, “I used my first salary to buy groceries. After buying everything, I was left with some money so I bought desi ghee. It was a big deal for us to have ghee on our rotis.”

With Stree 2, Rajkummar Rao has surpassed the records of Jawan, Animal, Gadar 2, and even Baahubali 2 (Hindi version). In the second week, Stree 2 earned Rs 145.80 crores. 

#Stree2 creates HISTORY again... Becomes the HIGHEST GROSSING #Hindi film in Week 2... Surpasses  numbers of #Baahubali2 #Hindi, #Gadar2, #Animal and #Jawan.

From urban centres to mass markets and from multiplexes to single screens, the trends have been nothing short of… pic.twitter.com/KgdbTsOMCG

— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) August 30, 2024