BIOGRAPHY of rajeev khandelwal

Rajeev was born on 16th October in Rajasthan. His journey to the film city Mumbai from a small town in Rajasthan was not a very easy one.

Rajeev's parents were not very supportive of him pursuing a career in acting. The main reasons being his family was from an Army background and also Rajeev was a good student. He had joined Engineering but he quit within two months and joined Xaviers in Ahmedabad to do his degree in Chemistry. He found Engineering too boring and also he wanted to do something where he could get time to take part in co-curricular activities. He wanted to stay in something where he could do something creative.

Rajeev later also tried to join the army but his form was rejected. As said by Rajeev in an interview "This was the time I decided to give acting a shot because at least I could make an effort to join the field of my dreams."

With this dream in his eyes Rajeev landed at Delhi. The first year went in just survival. He started writing and directing some documentaries, on social subjects like old age, women labour and a few on the Indian army. He also directed a fiction series for DD, called Samarpan on the guys in the para-military forces that won the highest award. It was shot in Kasmir.

And then commercials started happening, one led to the other, like the ones for LML Bike, Green Label whiskey, Kodak express, to name a few.

Subsequently, on one of his trips to Delhi, Rajeev learnt that Balaji Telefilms was looking for a new face and had come for audition. He auditioned and got selected. For him it was a good opportunity to find out whether he could stand out as more than a face in the crowd. The rest, as they say, is history.

He featured in the first story of Kya Hadsa Kya Haqeeqat.It was a negative role. He was the main protagonist, but it came and went so quickly. Then for the next six to seven months he waited it out till Kahiin to Hoga was launched.

In 2002 he joined Kahiin to Hoga. This was his first main role in a serial as Sujal Garewal. It was said Rajeev Khandelwal was born to play the role of Sujal. His ambitious, egoistic, hotshot dude act in Kahiin To Hoga made him the new teenage sensation of the small screen.

A star was born on STAR. Then unceremoniously stripped of his crown because he allegedly grew bigger than the serial. By May 2005 he left Kahiin to Hoga. But by then he had already become the heartthrob of the TV-viewing nation and he soon got to hold the Time Bomb on Zee. Here he played the main protagonist Varun Awasthi. He superbly portrayed the action-oriented RAW agent who is rather stingy with words, but explodes into action at a frenetic pace. On the one hand he's fighting the charge of having a hand in the assassination attempt on the PM, and on the other he's trying to save his marriage that's already hit the rocks. He remains steadfastly patriotic. This serial was a 24 episode one and ended in November 2005.

After Time Bomb Rajeev did a small cameo role in C.I.D in Sony. Sony picked Rajeev to replace Shivaji Satyam as the new boos of the most popular crime drama C.I.D. He played different character altogether, that of a young and dashing ACP. He was there for just four episodes but made his mark even there.

Rajeev loves horse riding and adventurous life. He is an outdoor person who loves adventure sports. He does not mind trying his hand at action. He loves cooking and loves making his own food.