In 2010, a young actor came to Bollywood with Love, Sex aur Dhokha. Before this, he had played the role of a newsreader in Rann. Owing to the small role, Love Sex aur Dhokha is considered to be Rajkummar Rao’s debut. He went on to star in Kai Po Che! and Shahid. It was in Shahid that the spectators began to realize that a new talent had entered the B-town- one who could play both intense roles while also giving us super hit comedies.
Although, till now Stree has been the highest-grossing film of the actor, Rajkummar Rao has won several accolades over the years for his performances. He truly shows that even with weakly woven plots, a talented artist can stand out from the crowd and fight with the big star-studded actors.
From featuring in comedies to suspense thrillers, here are the 7 Best Performances of Rajkummar Rao-
1. Newton
It seems unfair to talk about the best performances of Rajkummar Rao without first mentioning the role that earned him an Oscar. Rajkummar Rao plays the role of a simple government clerk on election duty who has been assigned to a Naxal-affected area in Chhattisgarh.
The movie is both entertaining and thought-provoking as it manages to focus on the issues of voting rights. Rao gives a phenomenal performance making us believe the role was a perfect fit for him!
2. Shahid
Based on the life of Shahid Azmi, the movie focuses on a criminal lawyer (Rajkummar Rao) who takes up cases of those whom he believes to have been unjustly charged with terrorism.
Rajkummar Rao took up the nuanced role boldly and delivered one of the best of his career- for which he got the National Award for Best Actor as well.
3. Trapped
Released in 2016, Trapped is among their early projects of Rao, but also the one that marked his rise in the film industry. It stars Rajkummar Rao as a call center employee who traps himself in his apartment.
He was praised for his terrific act portraying helplessness, struggle, and desire in the movie, and is often regarded as his finest role to date. He took home the Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) for the movie.
4. Bareilly ki Barfi
Bareilly ki Barfi is different from all rom-coms because of its perfect-for-humour cast including, Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, and Seema Palwa.
Starring as Pritam Vidrohi, who transforms from a wacky simpleton in the first half and a macho man in the second, Rajkummar Rao stands out from all the characters- keeping the spectators entertained through his acting.
5. Stree
Starring opposite Shraddha Kapoor, Stree boosted Rajkummar Rao’s image in B-town as the movie was a hit at the box office while being acclaimed by the critics as well.
It was the first movie featuring Rao in the main role that made it past the 100-crore boundary. Stree is more of a comedy than a horror movie and Rajkummar Rao’s sequences give us the humour we need.
6. Judgmentall Hai Kya
Though the film did not perform well at the box office, Judgmental Hai Kya is a one-of-a-kind film with both Rajkummar Rao and Kangana Ranaut giving phenomenal performances. The psychological thriller follows two eccentric characters who are stuck in a vicious cycle after an incident.
Rajkummar Rao took the role of a flawed and quirky character, who is hiding many things, and has a dark side to him. Judgmental Hai Kya gave him a chance to experiment with a new category of roles and Rao executed it impeccably.
7. Omerta
Another film featuring Rajkummar Rao and directed by Hansal Mehta, a good collaboration indeed, Omerta follows the story of a terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed who murdered a Wall Street Journal reporter. Rao said that playing the role was very challenging and that it took him to really dark places mentally.
However, he delivered a riveting performance doing complete justice to his character. It is visible from the movie that Rajkummar Rao pushed his boundaries with this role.
Conclusion-
It is not surprising to see that all the 7 movies listed above had different genres. The immense diversity in the performances of Rajkummar Rao shows the potential of the actor. He can smoothly alternate between intense roles like Omerta and Shahid to humorous ones like Bareilly ki Barfi and Badhaai Do. Till now, he has starred in more than 30 films. Which one was your favorite?
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