Rajkummar Rao, who proved his mettle with realistic characters on screen, received the Actor of the Year at the NDTV Indian Of The Year 2024 in New Delhi. Rajkummar received the award from Srikanth Bolla, a visually-impaired industrialist and the founder of Bollant Industries. For the unversed, Rajkummar also portrayed the real-life icon on screen in the film Srikanth. After receiving the award, Rajkumamr Rao said in his acceptance speech, "This is my second Indian Of The Year award. I received it in 2017. That was a phenomenal year and 2024 has been kind to me also. But this is a fabulous year for Indian cinema also. Cinema can change people's lives, it can inspire people. We have been telling beautiful stories through cinema."
Sharing his grit and determination for becoming an actor, the Stree actor said, "I am not a futuristic person. I live in the moment. I always wanted to be a film actor since I was in class 9 or 10. I never had a plan B. My plan B was to make my Plan A successful. I used to go to Mandi House from Gurugram on this path. I was never chasing money or fame. I wanted to work hard and I did that. I will keep on doing that."
Rajkummar Rao explored his potential to hit films like Love Sex Aur Dhokha, MMS, Uday Singh, Shaitan, Gangs of Wasseypur 2, Chittagong, Kai Po Che!, Dolly Ki Doli, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Trapped, Behen Hogi Teri, Raabta, Bareilly Ki Barfi, Newton, Shaadi Mein Zaroor Aana, Fanney Khan. He explored genres like commercially viable and out-of the-box content for audience across generations.