Rajkummar Rao on films that shaped his career

In a career spanning eight years, Rajkummar Rao has made a steady rise to the top, becoming one of the most distinctive and trusted actors of Hindi cinema.

Rao, who turned 34 today, believes "Shahid", "Trapped", "Newton" and "Bareilly Ki Barfi" are the four films that impacted his career the most.

"The characters in these films were real in a way. Though 'Shahid' was the only true story, what happened in 'Trapped' can happen to anyone. And I am sure there are people like Newton and there are boys who are naive, sweet and rowdy, like my part in 'Bareilly...'. The humanness is something I loved," the actor told PTI in an interview.

"Shahid", a 2013 biopic directed by Hansal Mehta, was based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi who was assassinated in 2010.

"...Hansal sir narrated me his story and on a human level, I was moved that there was somebody like him. That film also changed me as a person."
"There was such variation in his life starting from being a victim, to briefly going to a terrorist camp, to landing in Tihar Jail and then becoming this human rights lawyer. It was a fascinating life. What was it that was driving him to go to these extremes? I tried to achieve that."
"...When you work in Mumbai, you get to know that people are making films, so after doing 'LSD', I went to meet him for 'Udaan'. He said he wanted a younger boy and by the time I went for 'Lootera', he had found Ranveer Singh."
"I had no idea how my body would look or react if I don't eat for ten days as I had not done that ever before. I was going with the flow, it was very much in the moment, like how it was happening in the film."
"It was a good shock for people to see me in that avatar. Before this film, I was doing serious, intense parts and people liked it. It was like playing two different parts in one film as there is so much contrast in my character of Pritam Vidrohi. His one side is rowdy while the other is completely opposite. I was very nervous about the role as I did not want to go overboard with the portrayal."