Siddharth to Dhanush: 8 regional actors whose Bollywood debut left us wanting more

Here's a list of 8 regional actors, who left an impact on Bollywood audience with their debut, some with their acting prowess, some with their looks, and some with both. Read on.

By: Anumeha Saxena |
September 18, 2017 12:41 pm

There are several actors outside of the immediate Hindi-speaking fraternity that Bollywood has absorbed in recent years, who had almost no background or a godfather. Regional actors have made it big in Bollywood year after year fortunately, there are still some filmmakers who rise above favouritism and cast actors, even if they are from other industries, for they appreciate talent and nothing else. In past, actors like Rekha, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Mithun Chakraborty, Sridevi and many more, have gathered mass fan following and secured a solid place for themselves in the Hindi film industry.

There have been many times when Bollywood has opened itself up to outsiders and people from other industries, and these actors have made it big in Bollywood and able to bag major roles in movies. But most often, these actors only get to do supporting roles, with a few exceptions. And that is the beauty, with the little roles and minimal screen-time they get, they manage to leave an impact on the audience with their brilliant performance.

For several decades now, Bollywood has been casting these actors in roles supporting the main cast and undoubtedly, they have either added a whole new dimension to the movie with their act or managed to woo the audience with their looks. Be it the south Indian industry actors Taapsee Pannu and Dhanush or Bengali actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay/Chatterjee, or actors from the Marathi cinema, Radhika Apte and Atul Kulkarni, all have made a mark in the Hindi film industry and given paisa-vasool performances.

Here’s our list of 8 such regional actors, who gave some memorable performances in Bollywood:

1. Siddharth: Tamil debut film – Boys (2003), Bollywood debut – Rang De Basanti (2006)

2. Parambrata Chatterjee: Bengali debut film – Hemanter Pakhi (2002), Bollywood debut – Kahaani (2012)

3. Rana Daggubati: Telugu debut film – Leader (2010), Bollywood debut film – Dum Maaro Dum (2011)

4. Dhanush: Tamil debut film – Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002), Bollywood debut film – Raanjhanaa (2013)

5. Taapsee Pannu: Telugu debut film – Jhummandi Naadam (2002), Bollywood debut film – Baby (2015)

6. Atul Kulkarni: Kannada debut film – Bhoomi Geetha (1997), Bollywood debut film – Chandni Bar (2001)

7. Surveen Chawla: Kannada debut film – Paramesha Panwala (2008), Bollywood debut film – Hum, Tum Shabana (2011)

8. Shriya Saran: Telugu debut film – Ishtam (2001), Bollywood debut film – Tujhe Meri Kasam (2003)

(Also read: Shah Rukh Khan to Priyanka Chopra: 7 times Bollywood villains were more iconic than heroes)

Oops, did we miss any actor? Let us know in the comments section below.

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