True passion persists and true talent succeeds. There isn't a better example of these words than, Rajkummar Rao. He is one actor who has consistently proven his mettle and impressed the critics, audiences and the industry as well. Today, Rajkummar Rao celebrates his birthday, here's taking a look at his stellar performances and how he made it big in Bollywood sans a Godfather.

Rao shares an interesting connection with the camera and becomes whoever he wants once the sounds is rolling and he hears the clap. From a rowdy mawali  to a jerk to a vulnerable guy (sometimes in the same film) to a sociopath to a committed family man, there isn't one character that he had disappointed us with. While some of his films might not have been huge box-office successes, his conviction successfully helped Rajkummar Rao climb the stairs in his journey as an actor.

It wasn't an easy feat and took time, patience and one amazing performance at a time for him to earn the remarkable success he has today. He has had quite a few highlights in his almost decade long career and we're tracing some of them today. The actor graduated from the University of Delhi and his passion drew him towards study acting at the Film and Television Institute of India. It was in 2008 that he graduated from there with no thoughts of ever looking back. Without wasting precious time, he moved to Mumbai where he made an interesting debut with the much talked about film,  Love Sex Aur Dhokha in 2010. However, it was in 2012-2013 that he was casted for Kai Po Che! which brought more notice to him and his acting prowess. The audience was just getting over his previous performance when he pulled-off another remarkable role in the critically acclaimed biographical drama, Shahid . But he didn't just win praises for his performance, he was also honoured with the National Film Award for Best Actor.

Rajkummar Rao was next seen in Queen  and the brevity of his role couldn't take away from his gripping on-screen presence.  He also has critically acclaimed and impactful films such as CityLights, Aligarh, and Trapped which proved, Rajkummar to be the dark horse of the race. He had won over the critics and audiences by now which brought himore commercial movie projects including Bareilly Ki Barfi . He also took on the black comedy genre with Newton  and the risk paid off. The film became a commercial success and also earned him the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Actor amongst other awards.

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His highest grossing film at the box-office came with the horror-comedy, Stree in 2018. His latest performance, Judgementall Hai Kya brought out the crazy side of the otherwise understated actor. According to Wikipediaz Rao once mentioned Shah Rukh Khan to be his inspiration to pursue acting. He said,  "If an outsider could make it as big as him, then maybe there was hope for me."

Rajkummar believes in experimenting and has also been a part of web series and an audio play called, Mafia Queens of Mumbai. The actor never holds back when it comes to choosing scripts and stories that expand his graph as an artist.

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He is known to go the extra mile to get into the skin of each of his characters. And that doesn't just include developing personality quirks and ticks. He has gone through various physical transformations as well to perfect his roles.

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He hasn't needed a Godfather to make his place in the industry. Neither has he fallen for the overly buffed body that a lot of the new actors seem to obsess over even before making their debut. But, him staying away from the crazy workouts does not mean,  the man isn't not. He most definitely can make you drool when he wants to.

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Here's wishing Rajkummar Rao a happy birthday. May you continue to create unforgettable characters and films!