This Bollywood actor lost wife at 20, carried her body on shoulders, worked as tailor, now charges Rs 3 crore per film

Rajpal Yadav, hailing from the small town of Kulara in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, faced setbacks early on when he couldn't fulfill his dream of joining the army due to his height. Undeterred, he started working as a tailor in a factory.

While talking about his first job, Rajpal Yadav said, "When I got the job, my family members were very happy. As it happens in the village, as soon as one gets a job, the family members start worrying about marriage. My father also fixed my marriage." 

In 1991, suddenly one day Rajpal Yadav was told that his wife had died. Rajpal Yadav's wife died after giving birth to a daughter when he was not home. While speaking about his first wife to Lallantop, Rajpal Yadav said, “Back in the day, if you were a 20-year-old man with a job, people would ask your family to get you married. So, my father got me married. My first wife, she just delivered a baby, a daughter, and died. I was supposed to meet her the next day but was then carrying her dead body on my shoulders. But thanks to my family, my mother, my sister-in-law, it never felt like my daughter didn’t have her mother, she grew up with a lot of love.”

Seeking solace in theater, Rajpal Yadav's life turned positive. After graduating from the Bharatendu Natya Academy and the National School of Drama, he entered the film industry in 1999. While his first film went relatively unnoticed, it was his role in Ram Gopal Varma's "Jungle" that kickstarted his successful acting career.

The breakthrough came in 2003 with Priyadarshan's "Hungama," establishing Rajpal Yadav as a comedy star. Over the years, he showcased his acting talent in 200+ films, becoming a beloved figure in Bollywood. Despite early challenges, Rajpal Yadav found happiness in his second marriage to Radha and now lives contentedly in Mumbai with his two daughters.

Later in 2003, the actor got married to his now-wife Radha. While talking about his second wife, he said, “I have never asked my wife to wear saree or anything. The way I talk to my mother, my wife talks to her the same way. She learnt the language, one day when I reached the village, I saw that woh muh dhak ke baithi hui hai (she covered her face and sat there), because in villages women live a certain way. Whenever she visits the village–during Holi and Diwali–no one can gauge that she knows five languages!... After my guru, my parents, the one who supported me the most is my wife, 100 percent. Radha also raised the daughter I had from my first wife, as her own. She is in Lucknow today, happily married but the credit goes to my family and wife. I did nothing, I was just a medium, everything came along and helped.”