Rajkummar Rao (born 31 August 1984, also known as Rajkumar Yadav, is an Indian actor. He has established a career in Hindi cinema and is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards, and an Asia Pacific Screen Award.

Rao graduated from the University of Delhi and went on to study acting at the Film and Television Institute of India and graduated from there in 2008. He then moved to Mumbai and made his film debut with the experimental anthology film Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). After a few brief roles, he had his breakthrough with the drama film Kai Po Che! (2013). He rose to prominence with his portrayal of Shahid Azmi in the critically acclaimed biographical drama Shahid (2013), for which he was awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

Rao went on to feature in the successful romantic comedy Queen (2014) and starred in the acclaimed dramas CityLights (2014), Aligarh (2016), and Trapped (2016). The last of these earned him another Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor. Among his 2017 releases, the romantic comedy Bareilly Ki Barfi and the black comedy Newton were both commercial successes and won him several accolades including the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for the former and the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Actor for the latter. His highest-grossing release came with the horror comedy Stree .

Rajkummar Rao aka Rajkumar Yadav made his Bollywood debut in 2010 in Love Sex Aur Dhokha. The actor gained recognition for his role in drama film Kai Po Che and for the same he was even nominated for Filmfare Award for Best supporting actor. The actor was born in Gurgaon, India, in a lower-middle-class family. Rajkummar started with his acting career in 10th grade with theatre. He completed his schooling from Gurgaon and got graduated from Delhi University from Arts background. He simultaneously kept working for theatre with Kshitij Repertory and SRC in Delhi. Further, Rajkummar completed his graduation in 2008 from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He then shifted to Mumbai to try his foot in Bollywood industry.

After shifting to Mumbai, according to the reports, Rajkummar almost spent a year and a half visiting studios and meeting directors. He finally got his big break in the movie Love Sex Aur Dhokha in 2010. He responded to an ad posted by Dibakar Banerjee that mentioned that he is looking for newcomers.