Ravi Kishan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ravi Kishan

• Ravi was born and brought up in a chawl in Santacruz, Mumbai, but as a result of a dispute in his family’s dairy business, which led to the dairy business getting closed, his family shifted to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh when he was 10 years old. Ravi stayed with his family in Jaunpur till he was seventeen years old and helped his family with farming on their ancestral land. While giving an interview, Ravi talked about it and said,
  

  I stayed in Jaunpur for seven years and was simply not interested in studying. We just had some land on which we would do farming and were very poor. We lived in a mud house and could not even afford a sari for my mother on Diwali. I hated the thought of not being in Mumbai and felt I would either die or turn mad or become a goonda.”

• To help his family financially, Ravi used to work as a newspaper seller as a child in Jaunpur.

• Ravi met his wife Preeti when he was studying in class 11.

• While growing up in Jaunpur, he would play the role of Sita in the Ramleela; however, his father didn’t like this, and he didn’t want him to pursue a career in acting.

• In an interview, Ravi talked about his troubled relationship with his father and said that his father even wanted to kill him, and when he turned 17, his mother gave him Rs. 500 and asked him to run away from home to pursue his dream of becoming an actor in Mumbai. Ravi said,
  

  My father was beating me very badly and he was hammering me. He wanted to kill me and my mother was aware that her husband is capable of killing me and he will not hesitate because priests have less emotions. So she said ‘bhaag jao.’” ^[15]The Times of India

• His debut film ‘Pitambar’ was a B-grade for which he was paid Rs. 5000. While giving an interview, Ravi said,
  

  I ran away from home to come to Mumbai. I then stayed in our old 10×12 sq ft place and met an old friend Hriday Shetty, who introduced me to a filmmaker. I got my first B-grade film Pitambar and made my first 5000. I bought a bike and started struggling”

• In an interview, Ravi talked about the reasons for running away from home and said,
  

  My father wanted me to do milk business and used to bash me up badly with a belt saying, Yeh tum nachaniya kya ban rahe ho?”

• Ravi, in 1994, acted in several films including Zakhmi Dil, Aag Aur Chingari, and Udhaar Ki Zindagi.

• In the 1997 mythological TV serial Jai Hanuman, he portrayed the role of Shri Krishna.

• Ravi Kishan was offered a role in a Bhojpuri film when he was striving to gain prominence in Bollywood. While giving an interview, he talked about it and said,
  

  There was a time when I was not making money in Bollywood and I was then offered a Bhojpuri film. I called my mom. We speak Awadhi at home that is close to Bhojpuri. She said, ‘Do it for your village people.’ I did it and became a Bhojpuri superstar and that changed my life.”

• In 2000, he was seen in the Hindi mythological TV show Vishnu Puran in which he played the role of Sudhanva.

• He was recognised after ‘Tere Naam’ (2003), where he played the role of a priest called ‘Rameshwar.’ Coincidently his father worked as a priest, hence, he took inspiration for his character in the film from his father. In the film, he shared the screen with Salman Khan.

  

• In the same year, Ravi Kishan was offered a role in the Bhojpuri film Saiyaan Hamar.

• In the first and the second episode of the Hindi TV serial Khauff, aired on Sony SAB, Ravi Kishan played the role of a character named Raghuveer.

• In the 2004 Bhojpuri film Pandit Ji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi, Ravi landed a role.

• In the same year, Ravi appeared as Shankar in the Bhojpuri film Kab Hoi Milanwa Hamar.

• He landed the role of Raghu Shetty in the 2004 Hindi film Aan: Men at Work.

• In Phir Hera Pheri, a 2006 Hindi comedy film, Ravi appeared as Gangster Chhote.

• He stood as a second runner-up in Bigg Boss 1 in 2006. In an interview, Ravi talked about participating in the show and said that he did not want to join the show but was advised otherwise by his wife.

• In the 2007 Hindi war film 1971, Ravi Kishan played the role of an army officer named Captain Jacob.

• In the same year, he dubbed the Bhojpuri version of Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s voice for the film Spider-Man.

• He hosted seasons one and two of Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka, a reality TV show aired on Imagine TV.

• In the same year, he appeared in Bhojpuri films Ab Ta Banja Sajanwa Hamaar and Ganga.

• He landed a role in Banke Biharee M.L.A. in 2007.

• He appeared as Ram Kumar in the 2008 Hindi comedy film Welcome to Sajjanpur.

• In 2009, he landed the role of Raghav Raghuvaran in the Bollywood film Luck.

• In the same year, he shared the screen with Jackie Shroff in the Bhojpuri film Balidaan.

  

• He appeared alongside R. Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut in the 2011 Hindi film Tanu Weds Manu.

• He landed a role in Hamaar Devdas, a Bhojpuri remake of the Hindi film Devdas, in the same year.

• He appeared as a host in Ke Bani Crorepati, a 2011 Bhojpuri reality TV show based on the Hindi quizzing show Kaun Banega Crorepati.

  

• He is known for his famous dialogue “Zindagi Jhandwa…Phir Bhi Ghamandwa.”

• In 2012, he appeared as Rajan in the Bollywood film Agent Vinod.

• He repeated Aamir Khan’s train stunt from the film Ghulam in the 2012 Hindi film Jeena Hai to Thok Daal.

• In the same year, he appeared in two Bhojpuri films, Kaisan Piyawa Ke Charitar Ba, and Prem Vidrohi.

  

• In 2012, he participated in ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5.’

• He acted in several Bollywood films like Bajatey Raho as Mohanlal Sabharwal, Issaq as Teeta Singh (Tybalt), and Mere Dad Ki Maruti as Pathan in 2013.

• In 2014, he contested from Jaunpur (Lok Sabha constituency) for Congress party but lost to Krishna Pratap Singh of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

• He bagged a role in the 2014 Bhojpuri film Lakhon Mein Ek Hamar Bhauji.

• In the same year, he played for the cricket team Rowdy Bangalore in the first season of the Box Cricket League (BCL).

  

• He is a devotee of Lord Shiva.

• He is a good friend of Saif Ali Khan.

• In 2014, he appeared in the Telugu film Aagadu as Siva Reddy.

• Despite securing 42,759 votes, Ravi Kishan lost the 2014 general elections.

• He appeared in two Telugu films, Kick 2 as Solomon Singh Thakur, and Bruce Lee: The Fighter as Jayaraj’s brother in 2015.

• Ravi lodged a missing complaint in Mumbai in 2015 after one of his daughters left the house without informing Ravi and his wife. ^[16]The Economic Times

• In 2016, he essayed the role of Raja in Hum Hai Jodi No.1, a Bhojpuri version of the Telugu film Brindavanam.

• He appeared in the 2017 film Mukkabaaz as Sanjay Kumar.

• In the same year, he appeared as Veersingh/Raghuveer in Hameer, a Gujarati film.

• In an interview, Ravi said that he left INC and became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2017 after he felt neglected by the INC’s leadership following his defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Talking about it, he said,
  

  It was a mistake. When I lost the election, no one in the party high command got in touch with me. I was dejected.”

  

• He landed the role of Amarnath in the 2017 Bhojpuri film Kaashi Amarnath.

  

• In the same year, he landed the role of MLA Sujatha in the Telugu film Radha.

• In 2018, he appeared as Veeraswamy in the Telugu film Saakshyam.

• In the same year, he appeared as Chandrabhan Singh in Rangbaaz, a ZEE5 web series.

• Ravi established a production company named Ravikishan Productions And Media Private Limited on 26 September 2018.

• In the 2019 Bollywood film Batla House, he appeared as a cop named Krishan Kumar “K.K.” Verma.

  

• In the same year, he bagged the role of Sanjay in the Tamil film Sangathamizhan.

• Ravi Kishan Shukla secured a total of 7,17,122 votes in the 2019 general elections and registered a victory over Rambhual Nishad, his closest opponent from the Samajwadi Party (SP), by a margin of 3,01,664 votes. While giving an interview, Ravi revealed that he contested the elections from Gorakhpur on CM Yogi Adityanath and PM Narendra Modi’s requests.

  

• He bagged the role of a character named Ravikant Nagaich in the 2019 Telugu film NTR: Kathanayakudu.

• He appeared as a host in a 2020 Hindi TV crime show titled Crime Stop.

• In the same year, he appeared in the Kannada film Drona in which he played the role of two characters named Uday Krishna and Shivarjuna as Ramappa.

• Ravi Kishan signed an acting contract in 2021 for the Hindi films Boondi Raita and Dehati Disco.

• In the same year, he appeared in a Telugu film titled Hero in which he essayed the role of a character named Saleem Bhai.

• In 2021, he appeared as MLA Tripathi in the Kannada film Roberrt.

• Ravi Kishan essayed the role of a police officer in the 2021 MX Player web series Matsya Kaand.

• He appeared as Jairaj Jatav in the web series The Whistleblower, which premiered on SonyLIV in the same year.

• Ravi Kishan acted in Love You Loktantra, a 2022 Bollywood film.

• In the same year, he appeared in Mera Bharat Mahan, a Bhojpuri film, as Selfie Singh.

• In the 2022 web series Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, Ravi Kishan landed the role of Abhyuday Singh; the series was aired on Netflix.

• He was seen in the 2022 Gujarati film Baap No Bagicho.

• Ravi has always given his opinion in favour of the Indian government adopting a Population Control Bill. In 2022, while giving an interview, Ravi targeted the INC and said that only because of the failure of Congress to implement a robust population control bill, he has four kids. He talked about it and said,
  

  It is true that I have four children. So I know the struggle of raising them. I tasted success after a lot of struggle. Initially, we were asked to choose either work or money. My wife was tall and slim and after the first and second delivery, I saw her health deteriorating. I was struggling so at that time and used to remain always busy with shooting. Bachhe paida hote gaye. Had no clarity at that time. But now that I have achieved success and wealth when I look at my wife, I feel sorry.”

• Apart from acting in films, Ravi Kishan has advertised for several well-known brands such as Tata Salt, Dabur Lal Dant Manjan, UltraTech Cement, and Maggi.

  

• In March 2023, on Rajat Sharma‘s show Aap Ki Adalat, he shared his casting couch experience in the entertainment industry and said that he somehow managed to escape. When asked to name the perpetrator, he said that he can’t name her as she has become a big shot. He added,
  

  She had said, ‘Coffee peene raat me aayie (Come over for a cup of coffee tonight).’ I thought that is something people prefer to have during the day. So I got the hint and refused.” ^[17]NDTV

• In March 2023, on Rajat Sharma‘s show Aap Ki Adalat, he revealed the rumours that he demanded litres of milk to bathe in and petals of roses to sleep on when he was offered a role in the 2011 Bollywood film Gangs of Wasseypur were true. He said,
  

  Main doodh se nahata tha aur gulaab ki pankhuriyon pe sota tha. Mujhe aisa lagta tha ke main actor hoon aur yeh sab bahut zaroori hai. Log jab aapko Al Pacino aur Robert De Niro ki filmein dikhane lagte hain, aur bolte hain ke yeh actors aisa karte they, tum bhi karo… Godfather 500 baar dikha diye, aur main desi breed ka kalakar. Khair, yeh sab naatak kiye they ki isse mahaul banta hai. Mujhe lagta tha ke main doodh se naha ke jaunga toh yeh charcha rahegi ki yeh doodh se nahata hai (It’s true, I used to bathe in milk and sleep on rose petals. I used to think of myself as a big star; I thought this was important. People would show me Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s films, and tell me how they used to behave. I was shown The Godfather 500 times, but I’m a desi performer. So, yes, I used to make these demands. I thought if I bathe in milk, people would talk about it).” ^[18]The Indian Express

• Ravi is very close to Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He claimed in an interview that he spoke to the CM in Bhojpuri even while discussing important topics.

  

• According to him, Ravi takes his wife’s blessings by touching her feet while she is asleep.

• At All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ravi was once appointed as a member of the governing body. He has also served as Sangeet Natak Akademi’s member.

• Ravi, in an interview, revealed that he once raised his hand at a fan in front of his mother after he cut his thumb to apply tilak on Ravi Kishan’s forehead.

• According to the renowned Bollywood director Anurag Kashyap, Ravi used to consume weed. ^[19]Hindustan Times While giving an interview, he said,
  

  Ravi Kishan acted in my last film Mukkabaaz. Ravi Kishan starts his day by saying Jai Shiv Shankar, Jai Bam Bhole. Jai shiv Shambhu For the longest period of his time, he has been somebody who has used weed. It is life. Everybody knows it. The whole world knows. There’s not a single person who doesn’t know that Ravi Kishan does not smoke up. He might have quit now, that he has become a minister, he might have cleaned up.”

• Ravi loves animals, and he has two pet dogs, a Rottweiler, and another dog named Winter.
  

  

   

• Ravi hit the headlines in March 2023 after he revealed that he was once asked for sexual favours from a film producer when he was in the struggling phase of his career.

Ravi Kishan as Chhote in Phir Hera Pheri

Ravi Kishan’s GIF from Rangbaaz