Raja Bundela is a brilliant Indian actor, producer, director, activist and politician. He was born as Raja Rajeshwar Pratap Singh Judev in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India to a Royal House in Lalitpur District. He is a product of National School of drama and has done different character roles in movies. He is also associated to Film and Television Institute of India (FIIT) in Pune.
He started his career in the early 80’s as he appeared in Brij Bhoomi, a film that depicts the story about the Braj culture in 1982. In the same year, he played supporting roles in films like Vijeta and Star. He was also seen in the Hindi film, Aadharshila which stars
Naseeruddin Shah
and
Anita Kanwar
. He is also part of the 1984 Hindi feature film, Ab Ayega Mazaa by
Pankaj Parashar
. He essayed the role of Chander in
Sunny Deol
’s starrer film, Arjun in 1985. Raja bagged the role of Saxena in the Hindi film, Ankush in 1986 and later, he played as Kamdev Prasad Chironjilal Rokadia ‘
Kapil Dev
’ in the Bollywood romantic drama film, Swati in 1986. He went on to do the role of Uttam Trivedi in Sudhir Mishra’s Yeh Who Manzil To Nahin in 1987; followed by the 1989 film, Main Azaad Hoon, which is based on the 1941 film, Meet John Doe by
Frank Capra
. In the 90s, the actor has done the films like Shadyantra, Swarg, Phaagan Aaya Re, Shola Aur Shabnam, Paramaatma and Sautela Bhai. In 2002, Raja acted as Lala Lajpat Rai in the Hindi film, 23rd March 1931: Shaheed; a film that portrays the hanging of Bhagat Singh, the freedom fighter and his friends. Later, he appeared in his directorial films, That Game of Chess and Sirf Romance:
Love By Chance
. He was also seen in the 2009 Bollywood comedy film, Do Knot Disturb by David Dhawan.
After doing the film Arjun and was cast in quite similar role in the 1992 film Shola Aur Shabnam; while Sunny Deol and Govinda are both growing as an actor, he noticed that he was placed exactly where he was. That is when he realized that he wanted to become a producer and director and shape the career of other aspiring actors instead of waiting for someone to shape his own career. Raja produced and directed the film, Pratha in 2002 which stars Deepak Bandhu and Ashney Shroff. This film bears a social message, yet, it ends with many controversies and Raja faces a big loss after the film was made. He sold everything he has for the film but Raja did not have any regrets. He looks forward on his next release as he ventures with his American friend and made the film, That Game of Chess in 2005 and Beyond Khajuraho in association with the American production house. He also directed the film, Sirf Romance: Love By Chance in 2007 which stars
Haider Khan
and Sada. In 2012, Raja directed the film, Son of Flower under the cinematography of Rajesh Joshi.
Raja is also part of the television industry and made a performance in few miniseries. He is part of Doordarshan’s Farman by
Lekh Tandon
and he played as Rohit on Zee TV’s Tara in 1993. Raja acted as Lot in the epic period serial,
Bible Ki Kahaniya
; a Hindi television show that is based on the Christian scriptures of the bible. He was starred in the television series,
Mujhe Chaand Chahiye
on Zee TV channel. Afterwards, he made a silent exit from the television industry and came back after five years in the Hindi serial, Babul Ka Aangann Chootey Na on Sony TV.
Raja was married to Bollywood actress,
Sushmita Mukherjee
and they have three children. He is also the president of the political party, Bundelkhand Mukti Morcha which campaigns for the making of an individual Bundelkhand state that composed of 15 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states. He also won in the 2004 Lok Sabha election with 104, 584 votes and stood on Jhansi’s Indian National Congress ticket.