Rajkummar Rao Reveals He Was Never After Fame And Money In Bollywood: 'I Was Chasing...' | Exclusive

Rajkummar Rao is on cloud 9 after the success of his latest horror-comedy Stree 2 starring Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana. The film crossed Rs 386 crores in India and surpassed the Rs 500 crore mark worldwide in just 10 days. Directed by Amar Kaushik, the sequel to the 2018 movie has set the box office on fire.

Commenting on the success of Stree 2, Rajkummar Rao, in an exclusive interview with News18, said, “We were sure that the film would get lot of love because of the love that Stree 1 got. There’s a big fan-following for Stree. But these numbers are way above our expectations. We are very glad and super elated and there’s a lot of gratitude that this is happening with a film like Stree, because it is very content-driven film.”

However, Rao was quick to state that money has never been a motivational factor for him in his career. Despite coming from a humble background and being a complete outsider, Rao has time and again proved his talent and carved a niche for himself. “It started with LSD. Money was a problem for a long time even after I started working. But money was never the motivation for me. I was not chasing fame and money here; I was chasing good work. That hunt and that greed are still intact,” said Rao.

So, what does these box office number games mean to Rao, we asked him. “These numbers… they mean that those many people have seen the film. Whatever the number is, it means that people have made an effort to go the theatre to watch your film. That is very gratifying for me. [It means] lakhs of people have gone to theatres to root for you, to whistle during a particular scene where you were performing. That is a very humbling experience for me,” shared Rao.

He also points out that there’s a lot of gratitude and love for his fans and audience for accepting him for who he is. He states that he came from nowhere, and that the response and love that he has received is overwhelming. “There’s a lot of gratitude. God has been really kind. The love I have got from the audience, and they have accepted me for who I am. I have come from nowhere. I come from a very humble beginning. I didn’t grow up with money around me. I am one of their own. A lot of messages I get says that it feels like a personal victory, which is overwhelming. There’s nothing bigger than that,” Rao said, wrapping up.