Rajkummar Rao & Hansal Mehta Movies Together List — 4 Films
Complete Movies List & Collaboration History
Last updated: 2026-06-04 · Data sources: Wikipedia, TMDB
Rajkummar Rao and Hansal Mehta appeared together in 4 Hindi films between 2013 and 2019. Their highest-rated collaboration was Shahid (2013 — 7.7/10). Films span Shahid (2013) through Omerta (2019).
The Rajkummar Rao & Hansal Mehta partnership
Between 2013 and 2019, they barely worked apart — 4 films in 6 years. From Shahid (2013) to Omerta (2019). Shahid is the one most viewers reach for.
It started with Shahid (2013).
The shape of the work
Rajkummar Rao acted in every film; Hansal Mehta directed all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.
Partnership facts
- Hansal Mehta didn't want to cast Rajkummar in 'Shahid' at first. He thought the actor was too young and too 'urban' to play a real-life lawyer from a modest background. Rajkummar auditioned three times before Mehta finally gave in.
- On 'Aligarh', Mehta deliberately kept the set quiet and minimal. Rajkummar later said that silence was the only way he could find the character's internal loneliness. Mehta would just nod after a take — no notes, no praise — and that trust made Rajkummar push deeper.
- Their first film 'Shahid' directly launched the 'biopic boom' in Hindi cinema. Before it, no one was making quiet, indie biopics about ordinary people. After its success, every studio started chasing real-life stories — from 'Manto' to 'Milkha Singh'.
- After 'Omerta' wrapped in 2019, the two didn't speak for nearly two years. Rajkummar felt the film's dark subject had drained him; Mehta felt the actor had become distant. They patched up only in 2021 over a long phone call — and immediately started planning their next project.
- Hansal Mehta once said about Rajkummar: 'He doesn't act. He becomes. On the set of City Lights, I stopped giving him directions after the first week. He knew the character better than I did.'
4 films across 1 decade
- Shahid
- Aligarh
The partnership in numbers
Partnership Pattern
4 films across 6 years represents consistent collaboration.
Language Distribution
Linguistic diversity: 1 language, with Hindi being their primary medium.
Where each was in their career
57% of Hansal Mehta's screen credits are with Rajkummar Rao.
Before Shahid, Rajkummar Rao had starred in 5 films, including Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 (2012) and Chittagong (2012).
After Omerta, Rajkummar Rao went on to appear in 14 more films, including Srikanth (2024) and Monica, O My Darling (2022).
Before Shahid, Hansal Mehta had directed 3 films, including Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000) and Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? (2002).
Collaboration Journey
A chronological view of Rajkummar Rao & Hansal Mehta's professional partnership
Actors and musicians who worked on most of their films
Karan Kulkarni is the through-line — music on 2 of their 4 films.
