Do you ever just look at the glamorous and amazing lives of Bollywood celebrities, and wonder just how did they get so lucky? Well, I do. While some of these celebrities were indeed born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths, there are some who made it to the top on the basis of their talent and hard work. They began their innings in the world of acting on a much smaller screen, but even without the big production values of our modern-day upscale cinema, they managed to make their mark.
To give you your daily dose of inspiration, we have compiled a list of five such megastars whose career had very humble beginnings in the medium of television. You would be surprised to read number 5. Here you go:
1. Shah Rukh Khan
Say what you will about his latest cinematic offerings, Khan still remains the original Baadshah when it comes to Bollywood. And he makes no bones about it too! The “King of romance” who has won great accolades for his acting such as the Padma Shri, originally began his career on a TV series known as Fauji, in 1989. He followed it up with roles in other TV series such as Wagle Ki Duniya, and another miniseries, Idiot.
But evidently, he was destined for bigger things. He broke into the Bollywood landscape, with his debut, Deewana, in 1992, which even won him the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. He went on to prove his mettle as an actor by portraying negative roles in movies such as Darr, and Baazigar. Well, the rest is history.
2. Vidya Balan
Before she was melting our hearts with her portrayal of the homemaker-next-door or was raising the temperatures with her fierce avatar in Dirty Picture, this south Indian beauty was making her way to the tinsel town by making us laugh.
That’s right before she made her debut in Parineeta, Vidya was seen on the small screen, playing the role a bespectacled teenager, Radhika, in the much-beloved comedy, Hum Paanch, in 1995. She dropped out of the project when it became evident that it was impacting her education, and it took her a while to make it to the screen, but she did, and she hasn’t looked back ever since.
3. Ayushmann Khurrana
The genial boy-next-door, who surprised everyone with his stellar performance in the breakout hit of the year, Andhadhun, had that success in making for quite a while. A theatre enthusiast from the city of Chandigarh, Khurrana’s first tryst with the camera came in 2001, when he auditioned for the reality show, Pop Stars, on Channel V. However, it wasn’t until 2004, that he became a familiar face on TV after he became the winner on Roadies 2, at the young age of 20. Ayushmann, then went on to host a number of television shows such as MTV’s Rock On and India’s Got Talent. He finally made his way to the big screen and the audience’s hearts with his debut, Vicky Donor, in 2012.
4. Madhavan
Madhavan or Ranganathan Madhavan, is one of the very few actors who can boast of having a pan Indian appeal after having acted in films made in 7 different Indian languages. His acting career began with the television series, Banegi Apni Baat, on Zee TV. He further gained popularity with his role as Shekhar, in the TV series, Saayaand his portrayal of a ship captain in the series, Sea Hawks in the late 1990s. He soon made his big screen debut in the Kannada film, Shanti Shanti Shanti, which didn’t do so well.
Source: Twitter
Finally, he gained recognition when the acclaimed director, Mani Ratnam, cast him in his movie, Alaipayuthey, in 2000 and thus, he began his journey to stardom. His break in Bollywood came soon after this when he bagged his first lead role in a Hindi movie, Rehna Hai Tere Dil Main, the following year.
5. Irfann Khan
Looking at his immense body of work, both in Bollywood and Hollywood, it becomes quite easy to overlook the fact that Irrfan’s success took a long time finding its way home. But this incredible actor had been trying to break into the acting scene since 1984, when he took admission in NSD (National School Of Drama), in Delhi. A couple of years later, he shifted his base to Mumbai when he finally got the chance to act on the small screen. He appeared in a number of television series such as Chandrakanta, Chanakya, Bharat Ek Khoj, Banegi Apni Baat, during the 90s. He also bagged a cameo in Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay (1988), but the part was edited out.
Screengrab from YouTube
It wasn’t until his breakthrough role in Vishal Bharadwaj’s Shakespearean adaptation Maqbool, that he was noticed on the big screen. Since then both his body of work and his fame has grown in leaps and bounds and deservedly so!
While we certainly are jealous of the lives that these celebs lead, we don’t envy them for the years of hard work, do we? Nevertheless, this only goes to prove that hard work does bear fruits. Do you have any more additions to make to this list? Let us know in the comments.
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