When Sarabhai vs Sarabhai fame Rajesh Kumar was forced to sell vegetables outside son's school

Rajesh Kumar, best known for his role as Rosesh in popular sitcom Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, shocked fans when he left acting at the height of his career in 2017. After appearing in popular shows like Yam Kisi Se Kam Nahi, Neeli Chhatri Waale and Yeh Meri Family, Rajesh decided to step away from the spotlight to pursue farming. He was driven by the question, "What am I doing for the next generation?"

However, Rajesh soon realised that farming was much more difficult than he had anticipated. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, he spoke about starting a "family farmer" start-up and reaching out to his friends for support. While some showed interest, many ignored his efforts. As the business struggled, Rajesh had no option but to sell vegetables outside his son’s school.

With tears in his eyes, Rajesh shared, “After the start-up failed, I started to sell vegetables outside my son’s school. It made people think ‘He has gone mad. Why is he selling vegetables?’ It happened so that when my son saw me selling vegetables outside his school, he went to his teachers and said, ‘Would you please buy vegetables from my dad?’ He was in third grade at that time. Then all of his classmates went to different classrooms to inform them I was selling vegetables, and requested the teachers to buy it from me.”

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Despite his efforts, Rajesh’s start-up failed, and he accumulated a debt of around Rs 2 crore. He said, "My math was not strong. I didn’t realise I was losing Rs 22 to Rs 25 per kg. There was lots of wastage too. By this time, I had incurred a loss of about Rs 12 to Rs 15 lakh. It was additional to the debt I already had of about Rs 1 crore. At this point, I thought of getting an app made to keep the transactions and orders in check, because it was getting all messed up over WhatsApp. But, after the app was created, the man who made it, betrayed me. Within three months of the app’s existence, I happened to lose a lot of money, eventually having to shut down my start-up altogether."

"I had to answer my friends and family, who invested in the business. I had to answer the farmers who were involved with me in the business. It all had become too overwhelming. At this point, I told myself, I will have to find a way. If not, I will die with a debt of around Rs 2 crore," recalled Rajesh.

After years of struggle, Rajesh made a return to acting with a small role in Kota Factory 2.