Rajkumar Rao recalls being scammed of Rs 10,000 in his early days in Bollywood

Rajkumar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor recently went to The Great Kapil Sharma Show to promote their just-released film Mr & Mrs Mahi. The film is directed by Sharan Sharma and produced by Karan Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions. Mr & Mrs Mahi has collected Rs 160 crore in four days. During his interaction with Kapil Sharma, the actor reminisced about the time he was scammed while trying to enter the entertainment industry. He said he was without work for two years. He made his debut with the film Rann in 2010. It was written and directed by Ritesh Deshmukh. He rose to fame with the film Love Sex Aur Dokha.

Recalling his early days, Rajkummar Rao said getting a break in Bollywood was the toughest task. He said it took him two years to start working on his first film.

“Getting a chance in my first film was the toughest task for me. It took me two years. I went looking for work every day. Acting was the only thing I wanted to do, I had no other option,” said Rajkumar Rao, whose struggle also involved auditions, rejections and being scammed.

Rajkumar Rao said he was once duped for Rs 10,000 and promised an opportunity in the television industry. “It was in films. I used to cycle from Gurgaon to Delhi. I had read an article in the newspaper that a show was being made for Zee TV. I didn’t know the difference between TV and films and just wanted to act. I called them up and they invited me for a meeting. I cycled to South Extension,” Rajkumar Rao said.

He said it was a typical office where a man had taken photographs with everyone from Gulshan Grover to Raza Murad. The company asked him to pay Rs 10,000 as the cost of the photoshoot. “My mother borrowed money and somehow paid the amount to him. But when I returned three days later, the entire office was gone. The office was locked. I asked people around and they told me that those men had run away,” Rajkumar Rao said.