THIS actor wanted to be IAS officer, was launched by BigB

Making it big in Bollywood takes talent, luck and a bit of magic. But staying at the top is even harder. In the 1990s, one actor seemed to have it all — good looks, charm, talent, and a golden ticket into the industry from none other than Amitabh Bachchan. He was seen as the next big star, a strong rival to Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. But just when his career was taking off, one accident changed everything.
Meet Chandrachur Singh — a royal by birth, a teacher by training, and an actor who was once called the future of Bollywood.

Born into Royalty, raised with books and music

Chandrachur Singh was born in October 1968 into a respected and influential family. As per DNA, his father, Baldev Singh, was a former MLA from Khair, in Aligarh, while his mother, Krishna Kumari Devi, was the daughter of the Maharaja of Bolangir in Odisha. That made Chandrachur part of a royal bloodline.
He studied at the Doon School in Dehradun, and later at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. Along with his love for books, Chandrachur had a passion for music. A trained classical singer, he worked as a music teacher at Vasant Valley School and even taught history at The Doon School before turning to acting.
From UPSC books to film scripts
Chandrachur never planned to become a film star. In fact, he was preparing for the UPSC exams to become an IAS officer. But fate had other plans. When he found out that Amitabh Bachchan was looking for new talent for his home production, he decided to give acting a try. He made his debut with the film ‘Tere Mere Sapne’ in 1996, produced by Bachchan’s ABCL. The film was a hit, and his charming presence was noticed immediately.
A star on the rise
After his debut, Chandrachur acted in back-to-back successful films. He played powerful roles in ‘Maachis’, ‘Josh’, ‘Dil Kya Kare’, ‘Kya Kehna’, ‘Silsila Hai Pyar Ka’, ‘Daag: The Fire’ and ‘Aamdani Atthani Kharcha Rupaiya’.
He starred alongside some of Bollywood’s biggest names during his peak. He appeared with Aishwarya Rai and SRK in ‘Josh’ (2000). His other films included ‘Kya Kehna’ with Preity Zinta and ‘Dil Kya Kare’ with Ajay Devgn and Kajol. These roles cemented his place among the top stars of the late 90s and early 2000s. He was charming, talented and seen as a strong competitor to other 90s stars like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and even the Khans.

The injury that changed everything
But just as his career was reaching new heights, tragedy struck. In the early 2000s, Chandrachur was water skiing in Goa when he had a serious accident. He slipped and dislocated his shoulder badly. The injury was so severe that it kept coming out of joint again and again, even while shooting.
In a past interview with Pinkvilla, he revealed he lost many opportunities due to this, “In many actually, because It had also got to do with, when I was working in films, it used to get stalled, even though I did physiotherapy and all that, if my shoulder would get dislocated during the shoot, it would stop the shoot for some days, so I could heal. I did physiotherapy and surgery but the problem recurred. It was one of the things which pulled you down, professionally definitely.”
Chandrachur’s comeback
Chandrachur did try to make a return to films. He appeared in ‘Chaar Din Ki Chandni’ in 2012 and later in ‘Zilla Ghaziabad’ in 2013. But neither film did well, and he slipped further into the shadows. Filmmakers no longer saw him as a bankable star. Then in 2020, came a new chance — the web series ‘Aarya’ on OTT. Starring alongside Sushmita Sen, Chandrachur played a key role that brought him back into the spotlight. Viewers praised his mature, calm performance and were glad to see him back on screen after such a long gap.