‘One day only 18 rupees were left in the account’: Rajkumar Rao shared the story of his struggle, said – used to travel up and down 70 km daily
Like common strugglers, Rajkumar Rao also had to struggle before making a place in the film industry. There was a time when only Rs 18 were left in his account. In a city like Mumbai, it was extremely difficult to survive with just this much money. In such a situation, he used to survive by eating Parle ji and drinking Frooti. At the same time, Rajkumar used to cycle 70 kilometers up and down to the acting school every day. He himself has said all these things in a recent interview. Today Rajkumar’s film Srikanth has been released in theatres. The story of the film is based on the life of visually impaired Indian industrialist Shrikant Bola. Rajkumar has played his character. Actress Jyotika has also worked with him, who was recently seen in the film Shaitan. Mother supported Ranveer the most in bad times. In an interview given to Ranveer Allahabadia, Rajkumar talked about the initial struggle. He said, ‘That was the most difficult time, when there was financial crisis and work was not available. Mother supported me a lot at this time. When I ran out of money, she would make the arrangements and send me. Once I had only Rs 18 left in my account and that too in a city like Mumbai. Due to this, I could not eat food in the afternoon, so I had to survive only by eating Parel ji and drinking Frooti. Rajkumar said – FTII’s friends also helped. Rajkumar further said that FTII’s friends also helped in this bad time. He said, ‘When the money ran out, I was wondering what to do next. I remember there was a committee in FTII, Mumbai. Many seniors and juniors were associated with him. If someone like me was in a situation, he could have called someone from the committee and asked what was being prepared for dinner at their place and could have gone there and eaten. At that time I also did the same. ‘I used to travel 70 kilometers up and down to go to acting school’, he said, ‘I started preparing to become an actor after school. After school, I took admission in Shri Ram Center in Delhi, which is an acting school. I was 18 years old at that time. At the same time, I graduated from Atma Ram College. I did not know that bus passes are available from the college which saves the traveling expenses. Earlier, I used to travel 70 kilometers up and down to the acting school. While cycling, I used to listen to songs like ‘Lakshya ko har haal mein pana hai’, ‘Papa kehte hain’ on Walkman and kept myself motivated.
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