When Rajkummar Rao was beaten up by 25 college boys and he begged 'Don't hit my face, I want to be an actor'

Rajkummar Rao, who celebrates his 37th birthday on Tuesday, once opened up about dating a girl who already had a boyfriend when he was in the 11th standard. The actor revealed that he was beaten up by 25 people as a result.

Rajkummar Rao always dreamed of becoming an actor. He not only worked towards achieving that dream but is also known as one of the finest actors in the country today. Before he tasted success, he was up to his share of mischief in school. As he celebrates his 37th birthday, here is looking at one such incident.

Rajkummar Rao celebrates his birthday on Tuesday.

The actor, when he appeared on an episode of EIC vs Bollywood, revealed that he was kind of a goon in his childhood. However, when he reached class 11 and decided that he wanted to be an actor, he left that part of his life behind.

That year, when Rajkummar saw a girl playing basketball, he was reminded of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and thought he had found his 'Anjali'. Unfortunately for him, she was already with her Aman.

"I moved to this new, really modern, fancy, Blue Bells school in Gurgaon and I was a big, I'm still a big fan of Shah Rukh Khan. So I saw Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and I saw this one girl, playing basketball, same hair, and I was like 'Anjali'. I was like, 'I found her mother, I found her (imitating Shah Rukh).' And then somehow, we started dating but she had a boyfriend," he said.

"It was a Jat boy and then, of course, they came to thrash me. Some 25 Jat boys from law college and by that time, I was a saint guy. I was like 'Now no more fighting, this is enough. I have to be an actor.' They were thrashing me, 25 boys were like, 'Take out the gun, take out the gun, shoot him, take out the gun.' I was sitting like (makes a gesture of being huddled up). My two Punjabi, cute friends were like 'Don't hit him, hit me if you want to'. The only thing I was screaming is, and trust me, it's a true story, 'Don't hit my face, I want to be an actor,'" he added.

Rajkummar Rao made his debut in 2010 with Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Ever since, he has starred in numerous critically acclaimed films such as Gangs of Wasseypur (Part 2), Shahid, CityLights, Aligarh, Trapped, Newton and Omerta. Earlier this year, he was seen in The White Tiger, opposite Priyanka Chopra, and Roohi, with Janhvi Kapoor.