This star was bigger than Shah Rukh, Salman, Aamir at age 25, ruined his career with bad choices, went bankrupt, now...

In the early 1990s, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan were regarded as the two brightest prospects in Bollywood. As Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor were on the wane, it seemed that these two stars would take over the mantle from the veteran superstars. But in 1990, one man stole the show from them overnight. Even as the Khans dominated the box office, this young actor – all of 25 – delivered back-to-back hits and was called bigger than his contemporaries. But it all came crumbling down in a few years.

The star who was bigger than the Khans at 25

Rahul Roy entered the Hindi film industry with a bang in 1990, just two years after Aamir and Salman made their debut and a couple of years before Shah Rukh and Akshay. His debut was a legit blockbuster – the musical hit Aashiqui. The success of the film meant that at only 24, Rahul Roy was heralded as the next big thing of Bollywood. He then appeared in critically acclaimed and successful films such as Pyaar Ka Saaya, Junoon, and Gumrah. By 1993, he was widely regarded as the most prominent young actor in Bollywood, eclipsing the three Khans and even Akshay Kumar.

How Rahul Roy’s career fell apart

But it wasn’t all rosy for Rahul even at this phase of his career. Between 1990-93, he saw box office failures such as Baarish, Janam, and Bhookamp did not work at the box office. But while these early years also gave him hits, after 1993, it was all downhill. Over the next seven years, Rahul appeared in eight films, all of which flopped at the box office. The actor then took a break from acting for half a decade but when he returned, failures followed him again. He delivered 12 more flops, the last of which was the 2020 release Sayonee. So far, Rahul has given 20 consecutive flops (and 25 overall) in the last 30 years. The actor said that some of his film choices did not work out well and he signed several films that he never should have, which affected the quality of his work.

Rahul Roy’s financial woes

By 2020, Rahul was trying to work his way back into Bollywood. But destiny had other plans. The actor suffered a brain stroke while filming LAC, upon which he had to be hospitalised and underwent treatment for several weeks. In subsequent interviews, the actor revealed that he did not have the finances for his treatment and it was actually Salman Khan who helped him with that. The actor currently lives in Mumbai and is looking to return to the big screen after his recovery.

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