Rajesh Sharma recalls he had tears in his eyes when ‘superstar Akshay Kumar’ offered him food

Rajesh Sharma, who is now a favourite face for the sweet brother and father in most Hindi films based in middle-class set-ups, once drove taxis to meet ends. Rajesh Sharma most recently featured in ZEE5 original film Mrs Undercover in which he was seen as Radhika Apte’s boss. (Also read: Mrs Undercover trailer: Housewife Radhika Apte is a hilarious ‘Family Woman’ spy)

Rajesh Sharma started his onscreen journey with Parineeta and gained national fame when he featured as Kangana Ranaut’s brother in Tanu Weds Manu Returns.

Rajesh Sharma and Bollywood stars

In his interview with Dainik Bhaskar, Rajesh recalled working with Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan. “What can I even say about Salman Khan? My first film with him was Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Our team would provide lunch for us but Salman would always ask me to join him during lunch. Likewise, Akshay is also a foodie. I was eating on the sets of Laxmii when he called me and I walked up to him thinking ‘What did I do, why is he calling me’? He was offering me food as the shooting was in Mumbai and he got food from his home.I froze for a moment – this is a superstar offering me food!’ I actually had tears in my eyes at the time.”

Rajesh drove taxis

Rajesh also said that he lost his father when he was just 20 and had already developed a love and passion for acting. The responsibilities of the entire family, and bearing the expenses of his sister fell on his shoulders and he was forced to pursue some job that could help him money and move away from theatre.

“(Before his death) I never helped dad as I was not interested in that work. I was obsessed with acting and could see nothing else. Also, getting jobs in the IT sector was not as easy back then. My friend had an eatery – Bachchan Singh Dhaba – in Kolkata and he had two cars that he gave to me and I drove taxis to earn the money that we needed.”

Rajesh’s love for acting

Rajesh further said that he started earning money for the family and things improved. However, he also said that he never gave up acting. He continued his rehearsals and theatre work when he came home after 5.30pm each day.

Some of the recent films that featured Rajesh include Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. He also worked with Sushant Singh Rajput in MS Dhoni.