Rajkummar Rao, King of Good Times at 30

Actor Rajkummar Rao, star of films such as Kai Po Che, Queen and Shahid turns 30 today. On his birthday, let's take a pictorial look at the journey of an actor who has no qualms experimenting with his projects and has always been able to stand-out with his stellar performances.

Rajkummar Rao was born in Gurgaon on August 31, 1984 into a middle-class Ahir family. He was named Rajkumar Yadav but later on changed his name to Rajkummar Rao as per his mother's wishes. He finished his schooling in Gurgaon and graduated in Acting from Pune's Film and Television Institute of India. He shifted his base to Mumbai thereafter, to make it big in Bollywood.

Rajkummar got his big break in 2010 with Dibakar Banerjee's Love Sex aur Dhokha. The movie was a commercial success at the box office and he was appreciated for his performance.

In 2011, Rajkummar starred in Ekta Kapoor's Ragini MMS and won accolades for his performance in a negative role. The same year, he was seen in Shaitan opposite Kalki Koechlin. Although the movie didn't do very well, Rajkummar's role was much appreciated by the critics.

In 2012, Rajkummar bagged Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur. He played Shamshad Alam in the movie, for which he even visited Wasseypur in order to pick the accent and do justice to his role.

In 2012, he also played a freedom fighter in the critically acclaimed movie Chittagong. The same year, in Talaash, he was seen as a junior officer to Aamir Khan's character.

The year 2013 was the turning point in Rajkummar's life. His role in Kai Po Che!, Abhishek Kapoor's adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel The 3 Mistakes of My Life was much appreciated. The movie was a commercial success and won critical acclaim as well. Rajkummar was also nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for Kai Po Che!

He next worked in Shahid (2013), a biopic based on the life of human rights activist Shahid Azmi. The movie brought laurels for the actor. He was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for his incredible performance in the film.

The year 2014 began on a good note for Rajkummar. He was seen opposite Kangana Ranaut in the box office hit Queen. The actor's performance as Vijay, a conservative city boy, who calls off his wedding with his fiancée, was well received by the audience and critics. Although the movie revolved aroud the leading lady of the movie Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar did not let his role get eclipsed in the movie.

The same year, Rajkummar was seen in Hansal Mehta's CityLights, which was a remake of the BAFTA nominated British film Metro Manila. Rajkummar left an indelible mark playing Deepak Singh's character, a man who moves from a village to a city in hope of a better life but instead faces a myriad of challenges that come with a life in city.

Having proven his mettle in the showbiz, Rajkummar has his hands full with movie projects and is currently shooting with Sonam Kapoor and Pulkit Samrat for the romantic comedy Dolly Ki Doli. He has also been signed by director Mohit Suri for Hamari Adhuri Kahani starring Emraan Hashmi and Vidya Balan. Here's wishing Rajkummar a very happy birthday!