Rags-to-riches stories are perhaps what make Bollywood the land of
promises. This industry is known to have absorbed talent from varied
backgrounds. HitList shares with you names who started out with small
roles but then went on to bag ambitious projects.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Started out as: Character actor
New avatar:
Nawazuddin has been working in the film industry for nearly 15 years.
His first film was the Aamir Khan-starrer Sarfarosh in which he had just
two scenes. One of his meatier roles was that of Zilgai in Kabir Khan’s
film, New York, but recognition truly came his way post the release of
the film Kahaani, where he plays a CBI officer. He then went on to play
lead roles in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur 2, Aatma, starring
Bipasha Basu, and Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely.
Daisy Shah
Started out as: Background dancer and assistant choreographer
New avatar:
Daisy Shah, who plays the main lead in Salman Khan’s new film Jai Ho,
was part of choreographer Ganesh Acharya’s dance group; she has been a
background dancer in several Shilpa Shetty and Akshay Kumar films. It
was during the shoot of a dance sequence for Dabangg 2 that Salman Khan
took note of her. Soon after, he asked her to audition for Sohail Khan’s
film and she then landed the lead role. Salman has been recommending
her to other filmmakers as well.
Manoj Bajpai
Started out as: Character actor
New avatar: First
noticed in Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen as dacoit Maan Singh, he
continued to do small roles in films such as Dastak and Daud. It was Ram
Gopal Varma, who tapped his potential as an actor and offered him the
part of Bhiku Mhatre in Satya, which became his ticket to fame. After
this film, Manoj played main leads in Varma’s films like Shool and
Kaun?. This was followed by a lean phase but he was cast as a parallel
lead in Prakash Jha’s film Rajneeti. Gangs of Wasseypur too added to his
popularity. Now the actor continues to shuttle between lead and
supporting roles.
Irrfan Khan
Started out as: TV actor
New avatar:
He started his career with TV series Bharat Ek Khoj in 1988, where he
starred in two episodes. His first film was Mira Nair’s film Salaam
Bombay which didn’t get him any eyeballs and he went on to act in low
budget films like Ek Doctor ki Maut His work was noticed in Asif
Kapadia’s film The Warrior. Then came Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Haasil where
mainstream cinema cashed in on his talent. After this, Vishal Bhardwaj’s
Maqbool changed his fortunes and he is now among the few Indian actors
to star in Hollywood productions. His work in films such as The
Namesake, The Mighty Heart, Slumdog Millionaire and Life of Pi has been
widely appreciated. He even won the national award for Paan Singh Tomar,
and he recently turned producer with The Lunchbox.
Richa Chaddha
Started out as: Character actor
New avatar: Coming
from a theatre background, Richa started her film career by playing
Dolly in Dibakar Banerji’s Oye Lucky Oye in 2008. Here she was noticed
and was then chosen by Anurag Kashyap to play the female lead in Gangs
of Wasseypur 1 & II. She then essayed the main female lead in Fukrey
and had a smaller role in Ramleela. Currently, she has three films —
Isqueria, Tamanchey and Jia Aur Jia — in the pipeline.
Shahid Kapoor
Started out as: Background dancer as he was adept at dancing
New avatar:
He was part of the team of background dancers in the films, Dil Toh
Pagal Hiai and Taal. Upon being noticed by Ramesh Taurani, the producer
launched him in Ishq Vishk, a film under
his banner. Today, he has many commercial projects to his credit and is currently shooting for the film, Haider.
Zarine Khan
Started out as: Model
New avatar: She
started out as a model and was selected by Subhash Ghai to fill in for
Katrina Kaif in a song for his film, Yuvraj. Here Salman was impressed
by her work and she got her first big break with Veer in 2010. She was
again cast by Salman Khan for a song in Ready and till date has acted in
around five films.
Anil Kapoor
Started out as: Character actor
New avatar: He
debuted with the 1979 film Hamare Tumhare, but he starred in a lead
role in the film Woh 7 Din. This was followed by a spate of hit films
and he is also the first mainstream actor to act in two Hollywood films:
Slumdog Millionaire and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Them too!
Many senior actors in the industry have started from scratch. Here’s a
dekko at some of the veterans and their rise in the industry
Jeetendra
Started out as: Junior artiste
New avatar:
He began his career as a junior artiste; he started out by punching
attendance cards on the sets of the 1959 film Navrang when he was paid
Rs 100 a month. He got noticed with the film Shehra and was then
launched by V Shantaram in the 1964 film, Geet Gaaya Patharon Ne.
Sadhana
Started out as: Junior artiste
New avatar: Starting
out as an extra, Sadhana was first spotted in Raj Kapoor’s film Shree
420 and was later launched by RK Nayyar who cast her opposite Joy
Mukheriee in the 1960 film Love in Simla. With the film doing well at
the BO, Sadhana went on to become a leading actress. She has had more
than 35 hit films to her credit, including Woh Kaun Thi, Arzoo, Ek Phool
Do Maali, Hum Dono and Ulfat Ki Naye Manzelin, which was her last film
in 1994.
Mumtaz
Started out as: Junior artiste
New avatar: She
started her career as an extra with the film Stree in 1961. She then
got a small role in Sunil Dutt’s Mujhe Jeene Do. This was followed by a
series of action films opposite Dara Singh. Her first big break was the
film Khilona starring Sanjeev Kumar.
Mithun Chakraborty
Started out as: Junior artiste
New avatar:
He started his career as a junior artiste and was mentored by Mahesh
Kaul in the early ’70s. Hrishikesh Mukherjee initially offered him a
role in one of his films but his scenes were eventually edited out. The
film Do Anjane changed the course for him and his turning point was the
1977 film Mrigaya that won him the National Award.
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