Rakesh Bapat, also known as Raqesh Vashisht, is a 43 year old Indian actor and model, born on September 1, 1978.Raqesh is known for his exceptional talent and brilliant acting skills in several Bollywood and Marathi movies as well as Hindi television shows, like his debut and breakthrough film ‘Tum Bin’, ‘Heroin’, ‘Gippi', ‘Saath Phere: Saloni Ka Safar', ‘Maryada: Lekin Kab Tak?’, ‘Seven- The Ashvamedha Prophecy' and his Marathi debut with ‘Aayna ka Bayna'. As the actor celebrates his 43rd birthday today, while being stuck inside the Bigg Boss OTT house with his connection Shamita Shetty, his best buddy of 15 years, Nishant Bhatt, along with other contestants, let’s now have a look at some of his early Bollywood releases.
#1 Tum Bin
This 2001 romantic drama film has been written and directed by Anubhav Sinha and produced by Bhushan Kumar. It features our star man Raqesh Bapat in lead role, along with other actors including, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Sandali Sinha, and Himanshu Malik, also in pivotal roles. Garnering immense fame and critical acclamation, ‘Tum Bin' went on to become a cult classic, giving Raqesh the much needed career breakthrough.
#2 Dil Vil Pyar Vyar
After making a grand debut, Raqesh accelerated his acting career with yet anotNumber- mantic musical film released in 2002, also starring some of the very popular Bollywood faces, including Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, and Sanjay Suri. Co-written and directed by Anant Mahadevan, the film took inspiration from the iconic songs of the legendary music composer, late RD Burman. Raqesh brilliantly portrayed the character of Sonali Kulkarni's (Gauri) psychosomatically ill brother, Gaurav. One of the four love stories depicted in this one also includes the one between Raqesh (Gaurav) and Bhavna Pani (Rachna).
#3 Tumse Milke Wrong Number
Bagging some of the successful films consecutively, this marks Raqesh’s third Bollywood film, the on suspense and thrill. Directed by Jignesh M. Vaishnav and written by Rakesh Prasad, the film hit theatres on December 12, 2003, under the ‘ABC Pictures Private Limited'. Raqesh can be seen in the role of Raj, and the story follows a group of friends, who indulge in random prank calls, only to find themselves in deep troubled-waters later.
#4 Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya
Starring Raqesh Bapat and Richa Pallod in lead roles, this 2004 romantic musical has been directed by Rajesh Bhatt and written by Mehmood Ali, along with Vibha Ragani as the producer. The story revolves around Mahek, who lives with the Khanna family and helps them change their lifestyle for good. It takes the audiences by utter surprise, when Mr. Khanna's son, Sunny falls for Mahek and puts forth his proposal, however the latter goes on to refuse the same, for which the reason isn’t disclosed till the very end, when Sunny (Raqesh) discovers the truth.
#5 Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai
This 2005 romance drama has been directed by Deepak Ramsay, and features Raqesh Bapat as Simran Gore's (Dia Mirza) love interest, Sameer. Along with the two, the cast also includes Priyanshu Chatterjee (Raj Malhotra) in lead role, followed by Neha Bajpai, Kader Khan, Reema Lagoo, Amrita Prakash and many more.
Sameer, played by Raqesh, plays an aspiring singer, who is soon to marry Asha, but loves Simran, who is to marry Raj, who in turn loves Asha. So, Simran and Raj brew conspiracy to break Sameer and Asha's wedding.
#6 Naam Gum Jaayega
Another one with Dia Mirza, this 2005 mystery thriller has been written and directed by Amol Shetge, and also features Mandira Bedi, Divya Dutta and Aryan Vaid. Raqesh portrayed Vishal Saxena, who meets Natasha on the hills and the two plan to reunite after 6 months. However, when Natasha turns up to meet Vishal, the latter claims that the Natasha he knew had already passed away and she was hatching some conspiracy to take up her identity. The mystery unravels and the drama unfolds when Vishal and others set on a mission to unwrap who the self-claimed Natasha really is, however the film failed miserably on the box office.
#7 Heroin
After a hiatus of six months, Raqesh made a Bollywood comeback with the 2012 drama film, written, directed and produced by Madhur Bhandarkar. Raqesh plays the supporting role as Sameer Khan, alongside the very popular trio, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Randeep Hooda, in lead roles. The leading lady, Kareena Kapoor, grabbed all the attention and was highly acclaimed for this one, claiming it to be her best performance of all times.
#8 Gippi
This coming-of-age comedy film rolled on floors, in 2013, and revolves around the journey of the titular character, who is an overweight and insecure teenager, facing body image issues and physical and social changes along her progressing life. Written and directed by Sonam Nair and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Karan Johar under the ‘Dharma Productions’ banner, the film stars Riya Vij and Taaha Shah in lead roles. Although Raqesh had a supporting role as the chemistry teacher, he didn’t fail to impress the audience by proving himself all over again!