Filmfare Presents: Top 10 Films of Rajkummar Rao

1. Rajkummar Rao Film - Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010)

It’s an anthological film having stories that contain the themes of love, sex and betrayal. The stories, about honour killings, MMS scandal and sting operations are separate but interlinked. The film was made with different cameras, including a handycam, an amateur film camera, a security camera, an underwater camera and spy cameras. Rajkummar Rao appeared in the middle section of the film called Paap Ki Dukaan. He plays Adarsh, who wants to make an MMS video to pay off loan sharks. His victim is Rashmi (Neha Chauhan), who works the night shift at the same supermarket where he works as a supervisor. He almost backs out of making a sex tape as he develops feelings for her but later does it anyways and pays off his debts. Reshma is shown being shunned by her family and is fired from the job. Rajkummar’s portrayal of a ruthless cad was appreciated.

2. Rajkummar Rao Film - Ragini MMS (2011)

It’s a found-footage horror film that combines the story of a real scandal with strands from Stephen King’s novel Gerald’s Game. Uday (Rajkummar Rao), wants to make a sex video with Kainaz Motivala without her knowledge. He has set up hidden cameras and takes advantage of innocent girls. He brings Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) to his house situated in a secluded place, handcuffs herself to the bed and starts making out. However, he’s killed by a malevolent spirit, who also kills a couple of his friends. Ragini, who is chained to the bed, somehow breaks free but the spirit haunts her as well. She passes out and later is shown getting treated for mental disorders. The film has plenty of moments which send a chill down your spine. Rajkummar Rao kind of carried forward the same role as his debut film. He’s as a sleazy guy as they come and makes you believe in his loathsome character.

3. Rajkummar Rao Film - Kai Po Che! (2013)

Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Govind (Rajkummar Rao) and Omi (Amit Sadh) are friends who like all normal young people want to do something different. Ishaan is a talented cricketer and hence the trio decide to open a cricket coaching academy plus sports shop. The seed money is provided by Omi’s uncle, who is a political henchman in a Hindu right-wing party. They discover a talented Muslim youngster who has all the trappings to becoming a cricket star. Ishaan becomes obsessed with mentoring him, Govind is only interested in expanding his business and Omi gets embroiled in the political schemes of his uncle. Whether their friendship stands the test of time forms the crux of the story. Govind isn’t as naive as is believed and ends up having an affair on the sly with Ishaan’s sister. Rajkummar played the moderator between his two friends and the voice of reason as well. His camaraderie with his co-stars worked in the film’s favour.

4. Rajkummar Rao Film - Shahid (2013)

Shahid is based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was assassinated in 2010. The cases handled by him were almost exclusively of defending those accused of terrorism. Shahid (Rajkummar Rao) is troubled by the1992 Mumbai riots and travels to Kashmir to become a terrorist. Not liking what he saw there, he soon returns. He’s jailed by the police under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, for plotting against the state and spends seven years in Tihar Jail. There, he completes his education. By the time he was discharged, he had gained a degree in law. He starts working under Maqbool Memon (Tigmanshu Dhulia) -- the character based on civil rights lawyer Majeed Memon but soon starts his own practice. He works mostly on pro bono cases in tandem with NGOs. He only defends people accused of terrorism and starts getting calls threatening his life. While defending Faheem Ansari in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case, he is shot by two gunmen and dies on the spot. In the end, Ansari is shown to be acquitted of all charges by the Supreme Court of India. It was a hard-hitting film and was highly praised by the critics. Rajkummar’s performance as Shahid came in for a lot of praise.

5. Rajkummar Rao Film - Aligarh (2015)

Homosexuality is still a taboo subject in India. Aligarh is based on the true story of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of Marathi and the head of the Classical Modern Indian Languages Faculty at Aligarh Muslim University, who was suspended from his position as he allegedly had homosexual tendencies. Manoj Bajpayee portrays Siras with all his complexities. Siras thinks he’s a victim of campus politics. He refuses to fully come out as gay and is shown to be unable to handle himself when the gay community reaches out to him. He’s drunk most of the time after the incident and can’t understand why his world has turned upside down. Rajkummar Rao plays the journalist who draws Siras out and tries to make him come to terms with his reality. While Manoj Bajpayee was fabulous, Rajkummar Rao was equally good as the journalist who befriended the professor at a time when he needed a friend the most.

6. Rajkummar Rao Film - Trapped (2016)

Rajkummar Rao plays Shaurya, a call centre employee who gets a fabulous rent deal in a building which is still under construction. He wants to move in quickly as he wants his girlfriend Noorie (Geetanjali Thapa) to elope with him and marry him. He accidentally shuts himself inside the flat. He has no provisions, the water connection hasn’t been set and he can’t even climb down the balcony. His phone is dead and he has no electricity because of the faulty wiring which trips. He survives for some time by drinking rainwater and eating cockroaches. He manages to saw through the balcony gate using a metal sheet and is able to finally escape the building, almost falling off a couple of times during his descent. He’s rushed to the hospital where he’s treated for dehydration. But more bad news awaits him as his girlfriend has married someone else. It was a one-character movie but Rajkummar Rao kept us glued to our seats through his deft performance.

7. Rajkummar Rao Film - Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017)

Bitti Mishra ( Kriti Sanon) is a happy-go-lucky girl who is the apple of her father's eye. Like most Indian mothers, Bitti’s mother too wants the darling daughter to get hitched to a good guy soon. Bitti wants a partner who understands her and more importantly, who accepts her the way she is. She feels she's found that special someone when she reads a book called Bareilly Ki Barfi and finds herself described in the pages. She longs to meet the writer, whom she feels is her soulmate and her search makes her cross the paths of two men – Chirag Dubey, played by Ayushmann Khurrana, who owns a printing press and Pritam Vidrohi, the supposed writer of the book, played by Rajkummar Rao. A love triangle ensues and whether true love triumphs or not forms the crux of the film. Rajkummar Rao is too good as the friend who is cajoled into becoming a rowdy and his transformations from an introvert into an extreme extrovert both in terms of body language and speech patterns are spot on.

8. Rajkummar Rao Film - Newton (2017)

Rajkummar Rao plays Newton, a government employee who has been given the task of monitoring elections in a remote area which is a Naxal stronghold. He’s totally upright and honest but is also a total misfit. He’s at complete loggerheads with the ladder of the army escort -- Aatma Singh (Pankaj Tripathy) who is in charge of guarding him and his fellow election officers. Aatma knows elections in such a place are a farce. That nothing will change even if people do come and vote. But Newton wants to go out and make people aware of their voting rights. He wants them to come and vote in large numbers. This sets off a series of misadventures which further disintegrates his relationship with the army guys. Rajkummar Rao played a man who is blind to his own faults but conveniently finds faults in others. It was a bravura performance which endeared him to the viewers.

9. Rajkummar Rao Film - Stree (2018)

Stree is a mix of comedy and horror with a bit of intrigue thrown in. It is said to be based on actual events. A small town supposedly in MP gets haunted by an entity during the four days of pooja dedicated to a local deity. Three friends -- Vicky (Rajkummar Rao), Jana (Abhishek Banerjee) and Bittu (Aparshakti Khurana) take it upon themselves to rid their town of this menace once and for all. They are helped in this journey by a motley crew comprising a bookseller, Pankaj Tripathi, Vijay Raaz, an author who wrote the history of the town and Shraddha Kapoor, the girl Vicky loves. How they combat the spirit and get rid of it forms the crux of the film. Rajkummar's take-off on Shah Rukh Khan as he tries to be amorous with the avenging spirit was the icing on the cake.

10. Rajkummar Rao Film - Judgementall Hai Kya (2019)

It's a murder mystery that leads you across numerous red herrings before finally reaching the denouement. Bobby (Kangana Ranaut) suffers from a kind of multiple personality disorder because she witnessed the accidental death of her parents as a child. She's a dubbing artiste in films and has the habit of taking over the personality of the character she's dubbing. She also yearns to be an actor and gets herself photographed in the get up of the characters she was dubbing for. She becomes obsessed with a young man Keshav (Rajkummar Rao) moves into her bungalow as a tenant with his wife Reema (Amyra Dastur). She's somehow convinced Keshav will kill his wife. Things take a drastic turn when Reema is killed in a kitchen accident. Bobby tells the police of her suspicions but they don't listen to her, treating it as an accidental death. Two years later, their paths dramatically cross and the cycle of suspicion starts all over again. Rajkummar played a role which had him changing expressions throughout and making the audience guess his true nature. We don't come to know whether he is the bad guy or a good guy being framed till the very end. Rajkummar Rao performance certainly added another layer to this mystery.

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