Rajesh Hamal

Rajesh Hamal (राजेश हमाल ) is a Nepalese film actor.

He worked as a television host.

He is a popular actor in Nepali cinema and often called "Maha Nayak" ( nepali translate of Super Star) by his fans.

Rajesh Hamal was born on June 9, 1964.

His father, Chuda Bahadur Hamal, was the Nepali ambassador to Pakistan, Hamal didn't communicate much with his father, telling Wavemag, "Every day of my life, I regret not bidding him with a proper goodbye. Additionally, I should have made an effort to properly communicate with my father, and talk about my aspirations and passion in a better way."

Hamal spent most of the time of his childhood in Nepal, where he attended private school till grade 8.

In his early teens, he went to Moscow with his father.

Hamal and his father remained in Russia for many years.

He also started attending college in Russia itself.

He finished his higher education at Punjab University, completing his M.A. in English literature.

Hamal is currently married to Madhu Bhattarai.

He appeared in a fashion show organised by the Indian Embassy Women Association in the late 1980s.

Hamal's first starring role was set to be in Bhagya Rekha (1987) opposite Karishma Manandhar.

Later, Manandhar left the project, which led Kristi Mainali to join the project.

After Mainali joined, the filming began however, after the film director Deepak Rayamajhi was rumored to suspect an affair between the lead actors, which led two of the lead actors to leave the project.

Both were replaced by Rabindra Khadka and Mausami Malla.

After the film's release, it became a blockbuster; the film also led the film director Deepak Rayamajhi to become a credible film director in the early Nepali cinema industry.

Hamal later told Teenz, "Actually somewhere inside I always wanted to act. More than acting, I was fascinated by films. I wanted something in the field, but I did not know how to begin. Luckily, my cousin was a part of the film industry and he offered me a role. That was in 1987, and at that time. I did not know I would be doing films for the next 20 years".

The affair between Kristi Mainali and Hamal became highly popular throughout Nepal, and after Deepak Rayamajhi's successful film directing debut, he signed Mainali and Hamal into his next project titled Yug Dekhi Yug Samma (1988).

The film follows two young couples who are amidst the pressure of their family rivalries.

In addition to the lead actors' debut, it was also the film producer Chhabiraj Ojha, and action director Rajendra Khadgi's film debut too.

Hamal debuted as an actor in his uncle Deepak Rayamajhi's film Yug Dekhi Yug Samma in 1989, which was a hit and made him a nationwide star.

His career success was at peak in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He holds several box office records in Nepali cinema, including the most commercially successful film as lead actor, most consecutive hits, and most awards as an actor.

He is widely regarded as one of the most influential personalities in Nepali cinema and was the most dominant actor throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

The 1991 blockbuster Deuta marked a turning point in his career and cemented Hamal's superstar status.

In 1991, Hamal joined up with Tulsi Ghimire for the first time, in his directorial film project called Deuta. The film starred Hamal in the lead role, while the film also starred Shrawan Ghimire, Srijana Basnet, and Tulsi Ghimire in the supporting roles.

Upon the film's release, it became a super hit at the box office of Nepal.

The film is also considered the film that launched his stardom in the Nepali film industry.

The Kathmandu Post wrote, "Incidentally, this was also the film that catapulted Hamal into stardom and while that alone could place Deuta in a Kollywood Hall of Fame (if such a thing existed), the movie is much more than that".

Some of the other blockbusters featuring Hamal include Kasam (1992), Sadak and Prithvi (1994), Simana (1996), Shankar (1997), Chadni and Ek Number Ko Pakhe (1999), Basanti 2000), Dhukdhuki (2000), Hami Tin Bhai (2004), and Ajambari Nata (2005). He also hosted the first season of Nepali version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? titled as Ko Bancha Crorepati (2019).

They first met at the Lux Beauty Pageant in 2004.

Hamal said he was impressed by Bhattarai's talent at the Lux Beauty Pageant in 2004.

Bhattarai was nervous to see her favorite actor as a judge that she couldn't answer his questions properly.

Hamal and Bhattarai managed to keep their relationship secret for five years; the couple admitted they were in a relationship for two years before getting married.

He married at an odd age because he felt pressure from his family as well as fans.

Hamal and his wife Madhu don't have any children as of now.

There are few known hobbies of Rajesh Hamal besides acting.

Before entering the film industry, Hamal modeled for a magazine in India named Fashion Net while studying at University of Delhi.

Hamal proposed to Bhattarai on May 14, then he got married on May 24, 2014 in a private wedding ceremony at Hotel Annapurna, Kathmandu.