Rajesh Tailang is an Indian actor, director, poet and writer. In 2018, he gained popularity for his role as Ramakant Pandit in the Amazon Prime web series Mirzapur.
Wiki/Biography
Ritwik was born in 1970 (50 years old in 2020) in Bikaner, Rajasthan. He attended Sadul Higher Secondary School, Bikaner. He did his Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Dungar College, Bikaner. In 1993, he graduated from the National School of Drama, New Delhi.
Childhood photo of Rajesh Tailang
appearance
Height: 6′
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Family, Caste and Wife
He was born into a Hindu family. His father Shrikrishna Tailang owned a printing press in Bikaner. Rajesh’s grandfather Pt. Govind Lal Goswami was a table game player and a proponent of haveli sangeet. His elder brother Sudhir Tailang was a famous Indian cartoonist who died of brain cancer on February 6, 2016. He is married and has one son, Aryaditya.
Grandfather of Rajesh Tailang
Rajesh Tailang and his parents
Rajesh Tailang with his parents and son
Rajesh Tailang with his father and son
Rajesh Tailang and his brother
Rajesh Tailang and family
Profession
At the age of 13, he started acting. In 1989, he made his acting debut in the Indian Television serial Dhai Akshar, in which he played the lead role. In 1990, he was selected to join the National School of Drama, New Delhi. At that time, he had two options: one was to act in a television serial and the other was to join the National School of Drama. So, he decided to get proper acting training and joined the National School of Drama, New Delhi. He is a famous Indian theatre artist who has acted in many plays.
Rajesh Tailang in drama
After graduating from acting school in 1994, he acted in the hit television serial Shanti, in which he played the role of Manu.
Rajesh Tailang in Shanti
When asked in an interview how he got the role in Shanti, he replied,
After I graduated from NSD, I was looking for a job. One day, in the NSD washroom, I met a man who asked me if I was an actor. He said they were making a TV show, the first daily show in India. He was one of the directors of Shanti – Partho Mitra. Partho was from Delhi and he asked me to meet him at his house in CR Park. Then he asked me to audition at the UTV office in Mumbai. I went to Mumbai for the audition. I remember it was raining heavily that day. I went to the audition soaking wet. But, I got the role. ”
He has acted in Hindi films such as Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998), Dev (2004), Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), Siddharth (2013), Hotel Maha Vihara (2015), Phantom (2015), Mukkabaaz (2018), Commando 3 (2019) and Panga (2020).
He directed the Hindi television series India’s Most Wanted (1999), which aired on Zee TV. He has acted in two Hindi short films, Mast Qalandar (2015) and Zoya (2016). He has also acted in several Hindi web series, including Mirzapur (2018), Selection Day (2018), Delhi Crime (2019) and Bandish Bandits (2020).
Stills from Gangsters
He is known for his role as Mahendra Saini in the 2013 Indo-Canadian film Siddharth. Apart from acting in the film, he also wrote the dialogues for the film. He has also worked as a screenwriter for several plays.
Favorite things
- Novels: Jonathan Seagull by Richard Bach and The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Movies: Padosan (1968), Sole (1975), Cinema Paradiso (1988), Schindler’s List (1993), and all the films of Charlie Chaplin
Facts/Trivia
- When asked in an interview how he became interested in acting, he said,
When I was a kid, my father used to take me to the projection room where I watched a lot of films. That’s where my interest in films started. Later, my uncle took all of us kids to the colony to perform in plays. That was my first time acting. Then, when I was 14, I attended a summer workshop for children at NSD. After that, I attended a few more workshops and then acted in a few plays. Then I joined amateur theatre. That’s how it all happened.”
- He was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards for his role in the film Siddharth (2013).
- At the National School of Drama in New Delhi, his acting teacher was the veteran Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah.
Rajesh Tailang and Naseeruddin Shah
- He was a classmate of famous TV actor Anup Soni, who worked at the National Security Department in New Delhi.
An old photo of Anup Soni and Rajesh Tailang
- When he was a child, he had taken a picture with Amitabh Bachchan and later, he got an opportunity to share the stage with Amitabh Bachchan.
Rajesh Tailang and Amitabh Bachchan
- In an interview, he revealed that he had decided to leave the film industry, adding,
I had a hiatus between 2007 and 2012. During that five years, I stopped working in films and photography. I moved to Delhi and stopped working because I was not satisfied with the type of roles I was getting. I decided to take up theatre and devoted myself to it. At the same time, I started teaching at NSD. Also, during that time, I wrote 18 scripts. During that time, I travelled all over the world with my scripts. I broke the hiatus after five years when Richie came to me with Siddharth. “
- He has a YouTube channel “YouTube talkies” where he uploads short videos.
- He loved dogs very much and had a pet dog named Inca.
Rajesh Tailang and his pet dog
- His hobbies include writing poetry, photography, forest travel and listening to music. In an interview, he said,
Acting is my first hobby and wildlife is my second. I travel to forests, watch a lot of documentaries about wildlife, read a lot of books about nature conservation, etc. Besides acting, wildlife is one of the topics that fascinates me.
- In 2020, he published a collection of poetry, Chaand Pe Chai.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education