From Shahid to Stree: 7 roles that proved Rajkummar Rao could be anyone

What do a human-rights lawyer, an election officer, a terrified man trapped inside a high-rise, a small-town tailor and a visually impaired entrepreneur have in common?

Rajkummar Rao.

That may be the simplest way to understand the actor, who turned 42 this week. More than a decade after his debut, Rao has built a career by doing something surprisingly difficult in Hindi cinema: he keeps changing before the audience gets comfortable with him.

His career has stretched from critically acclaimed films such as Shahid, Trapped and Newton to mainstream successes including Stree and Stree 2.

And if his birthday is an excuse to revisit his filmography, these are the roles that explain why Rajkummar Rao remains one of Hindi cinema's most versatile performers.

Rajkummar Rao in Shahid: The performance that changed his career

Before Rao became a familiar face in horror-comedies and urban dramas, there was Shahid.

Hansal Mehta's 2012 film saw Rao play lawyer and human-rights activist Shahid Azmi, who defended people accused in terrorism cases before being assassinated in 2010.

The role demanded restraint rather than starry theatrics. Rao played Shahid as a man whose idealism, anger, humour and vulnerability could coexist in the same frame.

The performance earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor as well as the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Filmfare's records also list Shahid among the defining award-winning performances of his career.

It was the kind of performance that made the industry sit up and take notice.

Rajkummar Rao in Trapped: How do you act when there is almost no one to act with?

Imagine being locked inside an empty apartment with no food, water or electricity.

Now imagine having to carry almost an entire film on your own.

That was Trapped, Vikramaditya Motwane's 2016 survival thriller. Rao played Shaurya, an ordinary young man whose life turns into a desperate battle for survival after he becomes trapped inside an unfinished Mumbai apartment.

There are no elaborate action sequences to hide behind. The performance is built around exhaustion, fear, desperation and the increasingly physical consequences of isolation.

Rao's work earned him major critical acclaim and a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Rajkummar Rao in Newton: Can idealism survive the real world?

Then came Newton, and Rao went in almost the opposite direction.

His character, Newton Kumar, is an earnest government clerk sent to conduct an election in a conflict-affected forest region.

The joke is that Newton takes the rules seriously. The tragedy is that the world around him does not.

Rao played the character without turning him into either a hero or a caricature. His stubbornness is funny, his idealism is occasionally irritating, and his determination gradually becomes moving.

The film became India's official entry for the Academy Awards and earned Rao the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actor, according to the Indian Express.

Stree: When Rajkummar Rao discovered the power of comedy

If Shahid established Rao as a serious performer, Stree proved he could carry a mainstream comedy without losing that naturalistic edge.

In Amar Kaushik's 2018 horror-comedy, Rao played Vicky, a small-town tailor caught up in the mystery of a female spirit haunting the town of Chanderi.

Suddenly, the actor known for intense dramas was making audiences laugh while running for his life.

The film became a major commercial success and opened an entirely new lane for Rao. Its 2024 sequel, Stree 2, went on to become his biggest-grossing release.

That transformation matters. Rao did not abandon his dramatic instincts; he simply found a way to use them for comedy.

Badhaai Do: A very different kind of vulnerability

In Badhaai Do, Rao had to play a man hiding a deeply personal part of himself behind the appearance of an ordinary family life.

He portrayed Shardul Thakur, a closeted gay police officer who enters into a marriage of convenience with Bhumi Pednekar's character, Suman.

The film required Rao to balance humour with loneliness, fear and tenderness. It was a quieter performance, but one that carried considerable emotional weight.

He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the role in 2023.

Monica, O My Darling: What happens when the good guy gets very, very complicated?

Rao then walked into a completely different universe.

Vasan Bala's Monica, O My Darling was a neon-lit murder mystery packed with betrayal, black humour and morally compromised characters.

Rao played Jayant Arkhedkar, a robotics engineer whose carefully constructed life begins collapsing as the murder plot around him grows increasingly complicated.

Here, the actor was not playing the noble underdog or the earnest idealist. He was nervous, selfish, frightened and occasionally ridiculous.

And that was precisely the fun.

Srikanth: Can a biopic avoid turning its hero into a saint?

In Srikanth, Rao took on the real-life story of industrialist Srikanth Bolla, who was born visually impaired and went on to build a successful business career.

The challenge with such roles is obvious: how do you portray an extraordinary person without turning the performance into a motivational-poster version of their life?

Rao chose a more grounded route, giving Bolla ambition, stubbornness and imperfections alongside his achievements.

The performance earned him the Filmfare Critics' Award for Best Actor, while the film itself won Best Hindi Feature Film at the 72nd National Film Awards.

So what makes Rajkummar Rao's filmography different?

Perhaps it is not one particular role.

It is the refusal to repeat himself.

Rao has played men who are brave, frightened, funny, obsessive, idealistic, morally compromised, lonely and deeply ambitious. He has moved from independent cinema to mainstream horror-comedy without completely changing the instinct that made audiences notice him in the first place.

Filmfare, revisiting his career on his 42nd birthday, highlighted performances ranging from Love Sex Aur Dhokha, Shahid and Trapped to Newton, Badhaai Do, Monica, O My Darling and Srikanth.

Perhaps that is the real Rajkummar Rao trick.

You think you know what kind of actor he is.

Then he gives you another character.

(With inputs from yMedia and agencies)