Rajeev Khandelwal

Indian actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rajeev Khandelwal

Rajeev Khandelwal (born 16 October 1975) is an Indian film and television actor, singer and host.

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...
Rajeev Khandelwal
Thumb
Khandelwal in 2016
Born (1975-10-16) 16 October 1975 (age 49)[1]
NationalityIndian
Alma materSt. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad
Occupations
  • Actor
  • host
  • singer
Years active1995–present
Known forKahiin to Hoga
Spouse
Manjiri Kamtikar[3]
(m. 2011)
Children1
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He started his career directing the television series Filmy Chakkar.[4] His break as an actor was as the lead in the television drama, Kahiin To Hoga (2003-2005). After this he acted in many television shows which include Time Bomb 9/11 (2005), Sun Leyna (2006), Left Right Left (2007), and Reporters (2015). In 2008, he made his Bollywood debut with the film Aamir which proved to be a turning point in his career. After this he became part of many films like Shaitan (2011), Soundtrack (2011), Table No.21 (2013), Samrat & Co (2015) among others. Khandelwal made his web series debut in 2018 with ALTBalaji's Haq Se. In 2019, he appeared in another ALTBalaji web series Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala opposite Divyanka Tripathi.

Apart from acting he has hosted many reality shows, including Deal Ya No Deal, Sacch Ka Saamna, Super Cars and My Endeavour. In 2015, he returned to television with Sony TV's show Reporters with Kritika Kamra. In 2018, he hosted Zee TV's talk show Juzzbaatt.[5]

Life and family

Khandelwal belongs to Kalandri, a town situated in Sirohi district of Rajasthan. He was born on 16 October 1975 in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India in a Marwari family.[6][7] He is the second son of Lt. Col. C.L. Khandelwal (retired) and Mrs Vijay Laxmi Khandelwal.[6] His elder brother is Sanjeev Khandelwal and Rahul Khandelwal is his younger brother.[2][6] He did his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jaipur.[6] He later earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad.[8][9]

In 2007, he adopted a five-year-old girl named Swati from an institute called Muskaan.[10][11] Khandelwal married his longtime girlfriend Manjiri Kamtikar on 7 February 2011.[12] He has said he is an atheist but he is not against people who follow any religion.[13][14] He currently lives in Goregaon, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.[15]

Career

Summarize
Perspective

1998–2008: Television debut and success

He started working with a Delhi based production house and also modelled for brands like LML, Green Label Whiskey, Videocon and many more.[16] He began his television career with a negative role in the show Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat (2002).[17][18] In 2002 he was offered Balaji Telefilms' Kahiin To Hoga, a romantic drama.[19] He portrayed the character of Sujal Garewal who is 6 feet tall, dark handsome and rich, a Mills & Boonish hero and a scorned lover.[20] For portraying Sujal Garewal, he became a recipient of many awards and accolades for Best Debut and Best Actor.[21] In 2005, he was seen as the RAW Field Officer Varun Awasthi in Ketan Mehta's action television series, Time Bomb 9/11.[22] In 2006, he entered C.I.D as ACP Prithviraj and also acted as Sharim in the Pakistani show, Sun Leyna.[23][24] In 2006-2007 he featured in the youth based drama series, Left Right Left as Captain Rajveer Singh Shikhawat; the character was later killed off.[25] His portrayal of this character received appreciation from audiences as well as critics.[25]

2008–2015: Bollywood and break from television

Khandelwal made his Bollywood debut with Ronnie Screwvala's action-thriller Aamir (2008).[26] He was cast as Dr. Aamir Ali, who returns to India from England and becomes the reluctant pawn of a terrorist group.[26] Film critic Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama reviewed "Rajeev Khandelwal is remarkable in the title role. The film would've fallen flat had it been entrusted to an inferior actor, but Rajeev lends the right shades and emerges triumphant. Watch him emote with his eyes in the latter reels mainly, and you realize that he knows the craft so well. An excellent debut!".[27]CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand added, "Uninhibited, spontaneous and blessed with unmistakable presence, Khandelwal holds the screen like a seasoned artist. Using his face as a canvas to display emotions, he emerges as the biggest strength of this little film."[28] The film grossed 18 million (US$210,000) domestically.[29] For his work in the film, he received the nomination of Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. In 2011, Khandelwal had two film releases.[30] His first appearance was in the Bejoy Nambiar's thriller film Shaitan (2012) co-starring Kalki Koechlin.[30] He played the role of Inspector Arvind Mathur, who is assigned by the Police Commissioner to solve a case unofficially, as he is on suspension after throwing a corporator from the first floor of his own house for allegedly beating up a woman.[30] Taran Adarsh of entertainment portal of Bollywood Hungama wrote of his performance:"Rajeev Khandelwal, playing a cop who's fighting his inner demons, nails the role, giving a tight, focused performance".[31]

Khandelwal was next seen in Sanjiv Goenka's Soundtrack opposite Soha Ali Khan. He played the role of DJ, Raunak [Rajeev Khandelwal], who gets addicted to drugs and alcohol and loses his hearing ability. His career nosedives, but his love for music helps him resurrect himself.[32] Subhash K. Jha of NDTV reviewed "his performance is so accomplished that he proves, not for the first time, that he's among the most engaging actors today. For the money, time and attention, he is the true rock star."[33] Taran Adarsh added "Playing an emotionally unstable character is always taxing and an edgy journey for any actor, but Rajeev emerges triumphant with a bravura performance."[32] The film grossed 5.3 million (US$62,000) domestically.[34] Khandelwal next played alongside Shreyas Talpade and Mugdha Godse in the romantic comedy, Will You Marry Me? (2012).[35] However the film did not receive very good reviews.[36][37] Taran Adarsh praised Khandelwal as:"Rajeev Khandelwal handles his part with gusto."[38] The film grossed 0.32 crore (US$37,000) domestically.[39] His next release was the psychological mystery thriller, Table No. 21 (2013) with Paresh Rawal and Tena Desae where he played the role of Vivaan Agasthi.[40] Zee News reviewed his performance as "In this film, Rajeev has proven, yet again, the limit to which his acting skills reach, which – no doubts about that – is the sky."[41] The film grossed 10.9 crore (US$1.3 million) domestically.[42]

He next featured in the romantic comedy film Ishk Actually (2013) opposite Neha Ahuja.[43] He portrayed the character of Neil, who falls passionately for a girl named Gia.[44] Many reviewers questioned Khandelwal about the reason for signing the film and called it "Boredom".[45] The Times Of India cited of his performance:"Rajeev Khandelwal makes his presence felt, while the rest are mediocre.[46] The film grossed 0.34 crore (US$40,000) domestically.[47] Khandelwal next acted in the adventure film, Peter Gaya Kaam Se alongside Lekha Washington and Prashant Narayanan.[48] The film's release is on hold. Khandelwal plays the character of Peter Rodrigues in the film.[49] Rajshri Productions' drama thriller Samrat & Co. opposite Madalasa Sharma was Khandelwal's next release. He played the role of Samrat Tilakdhari, a detective who is approached by a lady with a strange case.[50] CNN-IBN criticised the film as:"Why so many good actors like Rajeev Khandelwal, Girish Karnad, Smita Jaykar and Indranil Sengupta agreed to do this film is the one mystery we were unable to solve."[51] Faheem Ruhani of India Today reviewed:"After watching this film you miss the Rajeev Khandelwal who debuted in the brilliantly made Aamir (2008). Better to watch the more thrilling CID on TV than suffer Samrat and his company.[52] The film grossed 1.29 crore (US$150,000) domestically.[53]

2015–present: Comeback on television and recent work

In 2015, Khandelwal appeared in the Indo-Australian film Salt Bridge where he played the role of Basant, an Indian migrant who arrives in Australia and meets an Australian woman.[54] The film was in a competition for Oscar and has received appreciation from critics.[55] In February 2015, Khandelwal made a comeback to television after seven years with Shrishti Arya and Goldie Behl's media drama based finite television show, Reporters opposite Kritika Kamra.[56] He played the role of Kabir Sharma, the Editor-in-Chief of KKN with a horrid past who falls passionately for a junior reporter, Ananya Kashyap.[57] The show received good reviews and ended on 19 October 2015.[58] He has also worked in Rajeev Jhaveri's directorial Fever. Khandelwal will be soon seen in Remo D'Souza's DOA Death of Amar co-starring Zarine Khan.[59] This was his first experience working on a public sector project. Rajeev khandelwal was the host of zee TV's Juzz baatt which aired on television in 2018 and had 26 episodes.

Other work

Khandelwal's media career started with making documentaries, writing scripts and directing those.[21] One of his documentaries, a fictional series called Samarpan was featured on Doordarshan.[21] Its story revolved around para military forces in India and it also won an award.[21] Khandelwal has also hosted some reality shows.[60] In 2006, he hosted the show Deal Ya No Deal (Indian version of Deal or No Deal) alongside Mandira Bedi.[61] He also hosted two seasons of the reality talk show Sacch Ka Saamna in 2007 and 2008.[62] He had also become the brand ambassador of National Geographic Channel's show Super Cars and hosted it.[63][64] In 2016, Khandelwal hosted a documentary film, The Legend Of Jaggannath, which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Indian religious festival of Rath Yatra.[65] In 2016, he sang for the promotional version of the song "Teri Yaad" from his film Fever.[66]

Filmography

Films

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2008 Aamir Dr. Aamir Ali Debut film [67]
2011 Shaitan Inspector Arvind Mathur [68]
Soundtrack Raunak Kaul [69]
2012 Will You Marry Me? Rajveer [70]
2013 Table No.21 Vivaan Agasthi [71]
Ishk Actually Neil [72]
2014 Peter Gaya Kaam Se Peter Rodrigues Released only at a film festival [73]
Samrat & Co. Samrat Tilakdhari [74]
2016 The Legend Of Jaggannath Host Documentary film [75]
Fever Armin Salem [59]
DOA: Death of Amar Amar Anand Film festival release [76]
2017 Salt Bridge Basant [54]
2019 Pranaam Ajay Singh [77]
2020 Ateet Ateet Rana Zee5 film [78]
Court Martial Captain Bikash Roy [79]
2022 Salaam Venky Dr. Shekhar Tripathi [80]
2023 Bloody DaddySameer Singh JioCinema film
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Television

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
1998 Banphool Maharaaj Debut [81]
2002 Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat Raj Karmarkar [citation needed]
2003-2005 Kahiin To Hoga Sujal Garewal [82]
2005 Time Bomb 9/11 Field Officer Varun Awasthi [21]
2006 Deal Ya No Deal Host Game Show [83]
Sun Leyna Sharim [24]
C.I.D. ACP Prithviraj [84]
Left Right Left Captain Rajveer Singh Shekhawat [85]
2008 C.I.D. Himself Episode 519: The Case of the Missing Bride
2009 Sacch Ka Saamna Host Talk Show [86]
2011 Sacch Ka Saamna 2 [87]
Super Cars Reality Show [88]
2013 My Endeavour [89]
2015 Reporters Kabir Sharma [90]
2018 Juzzbaatt Host Talk Show [91]
2019 Rag Rag Mein Ganga Himself Travelogue for DD National [92]
2021 Rag Rag Mein Ganga Season 2 Himself Travelogue for DD National [93]
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Web series

More information Year, Title ...
Year Title Role Platform Notes Reference
2018 Haq Se Dr. Naushaad Rizvi ALTBalaji Digital Debut [94][95]
2019 Coldd Lassi Aur Chicken Masala Chef Vikram Singh Chauhan ALTBalaji and ZEE5 [96]
Marzi Dr. Anurag Saraswat Voot [97][98]
2020 Naxalbari Raghav ZEE5 [99]
2022 Miya Biwi Aur Murder DCP Jayesh Roy MX Player [100]
2024 Showtime Arman Singh Disney+ Hotstar
2025 The Secret of the Shiledars Dr. Ravi Bhatt Disney+ Hotstar
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Discography

More information Year, Song ...
Year Song Film Ref(s)
2016 Teri Yaad Fever [101]
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Awards and nominations

More information Year, Award ...
YearAwardCategoryWorkResultReference
2004 Indian Telly Awards Best Fresh New Face (Male) Kahin To Hoga Won [102]
Best Television Personality Won [102]
Best Onscreen Couple

(Aamna Shariff)

Won [102]
2005 Indian Telly Award Best Television Personality Won [103]
MTV Lycra Style Awards Most Stylish Persona (Male) Won [104]
Most Stylish Actor On TV Won [104]
2006 Most Stylish Host On TV Deal Ya No Deal Won [105]
2007 Gold Awards Best Actor In Leading Role (Male) Left Right Left Won [106]
Sansui Television Awards Best Actor Popular (Male) Won [107]
2008 Indian Telly Awards Special Commendations Aamir Won [108]
2009 Filmfare Awards Best Male Debut Nominated [21]
Screen Awards Nominated [109]
Indian Telly Awards Best Anchor Sacch Ka Saamna Won [110]
2011 Indian Television Academy Awards Best Anchor (Game/Quiz Show) Won [111]
2012 Screen Awards Best Ensemble Cast

(Shiv Panditt, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah, Kirti Kulhari, Neil Bhoopalam)

Shaitan Nominated [112]
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See also

References

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