- Rajiv Thakur grew up in extreme poverty after his father was disowned post-marriage
- His father's thread factory was destroyed in 1984 unrest, causing family unemployment
- The family lived in a single room serving as bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom
Comedian-actor Rajiv Thakur, known for his stint in Netflix's The Great Indian Kapil Show, recalled his time growing up in poverty and how those experiences left a lasting impact on him. He has opened up about his difficult childhood days and the struggles that shaped his journey before finding success in the entertainment industry.
In an interview with Vaibhav Munjal, Rajiv confessed he still finds it difficult to revisit his childhood memories. “My journey began in circumstances I don't even want to remember. If I tell people about it today, it may sound made up because there's no one to verify it,” the comedian said.
“People often say you should turn your pain into stand-up comedy. I do that sometimes, but even while performing those jokes, the pain is so real that I end up in tears backstage. That's why I rarely talk about that phase of my life,” he added.
Rajiv recalled that his family's life took a sudden turn overnight after his parents got married. “It was just like those old Hindi films. After my parents got married, my father was thrown out of the family home. Overnight, they went from living in a comfortable house to a single-room home.
“That one room was our bedroom, living room, kitchen and even our bathroom. Three children were born and raised there. If one person was bathing, the other four had to wait outside. I used to feel like our home was a public toilet,” he said.
The comedian shared that his father's thread factory in Amritsar was destroyed in the 1984 unrest, which left the family without any stable income.
“My father was unemployed. We couldn't even pay the rent. There was only one 40-watt bulb in the room. I hated yellow light because I'd never seen a tube light. Whenever I visited someone's house and saw white light, I'd wonder when we'd ever have one in our home,” he mentioned.
Rajiv further shared that even electricity came with restrictions. "The landlord would switch off the light at 9 pm because electricity was included in the rent. After that, we either had to sleep or sit with an oil lamp. We lived on the third floor without a lift, so we had to carry buckets of water upstairs every day. My mother stitched clothes to support the family, and she would deliver them to customers and collect them later," he added.
Rajiv Thakur began his entertainment career in Punjabi theatre before transitioning to mainstream television. The comedian rose to fame with his stint in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge Season 3 and subsequently became a regular performer on Comedy Circus. He has also acted in films like Kanjoos Majnu Kharchili Laila (2023), Zindagi Zindabaad (2023), Tara Mira (2019) and Thug Life (2017)