Gajraj Rao is an Indian actor and advertising filmmaker. He is known for his role as Jeetendra Kaushik (father of Ayushmann Khurrana) in the 2018 film Badhaai Ho.
Wiki/Biography
Gajraj Rao was born in 1971 in Dungarpur, Rajasthan (48 years old in 2019). He went to school in Rajasthan and Delhi.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 9″
Eye color: black
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
family, caste and wife
He was born in Rajasthan and brought up in Delhi. He was born into a lower-middle-class family. His father was an employee of the Indian Railways. Gajraj is married to Sanjana Rao and the couple has two sons. His eldest son is a graphic design student.
Gajeraj Rao and his wife
Profession
After completing his studies, at the age of 16, he joined the theater group “Act One” along with actors Manoj Bajpayee and Ashish Vidyarthi.
Gajraj Rao with Manoj Bajpai, Nikhil Verma and Ashish Vidyarthi
At the beginning of his acting career, he often worked odd jobs to make ends meet while doing theater. His first job was in a tailor shop “Iqbal Tailors” in Delhi. Later, a friend of his offered him a job in a clothing company. He was good at literature and hence, he started working as a freelance writer for Navbharat and Hindustan Times. Soon, he got an opportunity to write an anchor script for the Doordarshan channel. While he was working as a screenwriter, he met Indian television producer Siddhartha Basu, who invited him to work on a show based on audience interaction. Then he met Bollywood director and screenwriter Pradeep Sarkar, which was a turning point in his life. He started working with him as a screenwriter for ad films and then moved to Mumbai with Pradeep Sarkar. Later, his friend Tigmanshu Dhulia introduced him to director Shekhar Kapur. Shekhar invited him to play the role of Ashok Chand Thakur in his film Bandit Queen (1994).
Bandit Queen Gajraj Rao
In 2003, he opened his own advertising production company “Code Red Films” with his partner Subrat Ray. Gajraj has acted and directed many popular TV commercials.
Gajraj Rao shoots TV commercial
Some of the commercials produced by his production house include big brands like Maruti Suzuki, Samsung, Cadbury, Reliance Foundation, HUL, McDonald’s, Flipkart and Procter & Gamble.
His production company “Code Red Films” has won several national and international awards at the Asian Advertising Festival, Promax Singapore, The Cup, NYF and Asia Pacific Advertising Festival. He played small roles in several Bollywood films, including “Dil Se” (1998), “Aks” (2001), “Dil Hai Tumhaara” (2002), “Black Friday” (2007) and Aamir (2008).
Gajraj Rao’s roles in different movies
In 2015, he made his debut in the Hindi web series “Bang Baaja Baaraat”, playing the role of Murli Prasad Sharma. He has appeared in many ‘TVF’ (YouTube channel) web series including ‘A Day with RD Sharma’ (2016), ‘Father’ (2017), ‘Tech Talk with Dad’ (2018) and ‘ TVF Triple Season 2’ (2019).
In 2016, he directed a short film “Rorito: Write the New.” He has produced several documentaries such as Budhia Singh: Born to Run (2016) and Tribe Scoop (2018).
Budya Singh was born to run (2016)
He became popular with the 2018 Bollywood film Badhaai Ho.
Gajraj Rao in Badhaai Ho
In 2020, he appeared in Bollywood films like Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and Lootcase.
Gajraj Rao as Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan
favorite thing
- Writers/Poets: Premchand, Elif Shafak, Hisham Matar, Maha Gargash, Ibrahim Eissa and Rabindranath Tagore
- Web Series: Sacred Games (2018)
Facts/Trivia
- He used to live with his parents in a railway colony in Delhi. He said in an interview,
I learned various dialects while living in the railway colonies. There will be people coming from some part of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab or Uttar Pradesh. I was fascinated by these dialects and practiced them constantly. Perhaps, this was the beginning of the actor I suddenly found myself being called by name. It also helps that the family takes annual trips to Dungarpur in Rajasthan. We either get off at Ratlam or Ahmedabad and travel by Deluxe or Sarvodaya Express. “
- He is an ordinary student in school.
- In an interview, he revealed how he became interested in theatre, saying,
A friend introduced me to theater when I was studying in Delhi University. I watched Sandhya Chhaya perform at Shri Ram Performing Arts Center in Mandi House. I was struck by the magic of theatre. There were about 100 people in the audience, and two young actors played older people on stage. The lights, the music…everything made a lasting impression on me and I slept very late that night as the experience kept replaying in my mind. I was drawn to the theater and went to Mandy’s House more and more often. I was hooked. “
- He was crowned for an award-winning commercial produced by his production company “Code Red Films”. The ad showcases the importance of respecting India’s national anthem.
- In an interview, he shared his journey as an advertising filmmaker, saying:
Nitesh Tiwari gave me the second ad. Some people say I’m new, but he likes me. A three-minute Tamil Sonata film (shot for Lintas, then helmed by Balki) did very well. I have collaborated extensively with renowned cinematographer V Manikantan. He had a big impact on my journey. “
- In 2018, he won several awards for his film Badhaai Ho.
Gajraj Rao poses with the winners
- His hobbies include traveling and reading.
Gajraj Rao buy books
- He appeared on “The Kapil Sharma Show” to promote his films “Badhaai Ho” (2018) and “Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan” (2020).
Gajraj Rao on The Kapil Sharma Show
- On “The Kapil Sharma Show”, he revealed that he calls his wife every 30 minutes. He further said,
“I watched a European movie. There was a married couple in that movie. The memory of one of the two disappeared. After that, the other person felt that the two never shared anything worth remembering, so in How to remember each other in this situation. After watching the movie, I decided that from now on, no matter what happens in my life, I will keep my wife updated.”
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education