5 Actors brightening the screen yet nowhere close to fame!

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Bollywood, as we know it, has always been fond of star kids and established superstars. The entry to an outsider has always been a tough question mark when it comes to Bollywood.

However, speaking about this somehow makes you a blind follower of Kangana Ranaut… And also makes her a Psychopath! Well, at the risk of being tagged a blind follower of Kangana and adding to her media created mental illness, I would like to say I still believe what she says.

No I never tried my luck with Bollywood… so it is definitely not a case of sour grapes! But I have this weird habit of calling a spade a spade. Gets me in trouble a lot of times, but can’t help it… It’s some sort of a mental illness I guess.

I will believe nepotism does not exist only when I see a star kid launched by Anurag Kashyap! 

But in this dark planet of stars-kids and non-nepotistic launches, there is a ray of hope. There are some actors who come from humble beginnings and are doing aa great job. You love them every time you see them on screen, but you would not spend a rupee if a movie has just them.

Here are some of them who I think have all the potential in the world to make it big, to call themselves actors:

1. Manish Chaudhary:

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Most of us would recognize him as the quintessential snobby rich guy from some movies. Like Ranbir’s asshole boss from Rocket Singh – Salesman of the year. He exudes the charm and persona of a highly successful super rich businessman in reel life.

He has played some super roles in his career. Like ACP Siddhanth Chauhan in Mickey Virus, Sidhwani in Band Baaja Baraat, Sunil Puri in Rocket Singh, Shekhar from Noor, Mangal Singh Tomar in Jannat 2… Some of these might not have worked wonders in the box office, but he has proven his mettle everytime he was on screen.

2. Rajesh Sharma:

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Born to a family in Ludhiana, Punjab, Rajesh Sharma is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. 

A splendid actor, who holds his ground and excels on screen every second of his presence, Rajesh has a knack for playing a bad guy with a comic twist. Impeccable dialogue delivery is his forte!

Some of his best work can be seen in movies like Khosla ka Ghosla, Ishqiya, No one killed Jessica, Dirty Picture, Luv Shuv te Chicken Khurana, Special 26, Ghanchakkar, B.A Pass, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, M.S. Dhoni, Begum Jaan… And so on!

3. Brijendra Kala:

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Brijendra has worked in theatre as an actor for more than 17 years. He applied to National School of Drama’s Repertory, but by the time the intimation regarding his interview reached his address, the batch was full, after that again he applied for the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts Repertory in Delhi. 

Again Luck didn’t favour him, Kala was involved with local theatre groups in the city before he moved to Mumbai in 1992 to try his luck in Hindi films. In Mumbai screenwriter Achala Ashar, took him under their wings and he assisted them in screenwriting.

He too has this unique quality of stealing the thunder from most actors once he is on screen. Some examples of this are Haasil, Jab We Met, Phas gaye re Obama, Paan Singh Tomar, Aankhon Dekhi, Guddu Rangeela, Miss Tanakpur haazir ho etc…

His recent foray in the area of Webseries has also let us in splits. The Recent one, Aam Aadmi Family, which is available on TVF is a delight to watch!

4. Pankaj Tiwari:

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You might not know him by this name. But try remembering him by the Sultan who killed Sardar Khan of Wasseypur. Now you get it right?

Born to a farmer couple in a small somewhere in Bihar, he pursued farming till his 11th standard. He used to play a role of a girl in his village during festive celebrations, which according to him was highly appreciated by the villagers. That’s what prompted him to make a career in acting.  He too is an alumnus of the National School of Drama.

His claim to fame was Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, as Sultan Qureshi. Most of us don’t know that he was rejected for that role by Anurag himself, but he still hired him on insistence from the casting director. The result, is history as we all know.

Some of his other noteworthy performances were in Apaharan, Shaurya, Chillar Party, Agneepath, Fukrey and Fukrey Returns, Manjhi: The Mountain Man, Masaan, Nil Battey Sannata, Anarkali of Aarah, Newton, Bareily ki Barfi to name a few.

5. Sanjay Mishra:

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Talk of not getting due where deserved and he is the guy that flashes before your eyes. 

For me, there is no better actor than him in the industry currently. The sad part is, he cannot pull a movie all by himself. And hence, Bollywood reduces him to some stupid unfunny roles, which he by means of his splendid acting skills, makes a treat to watch!

Born in Darbhanga, Bihar, he too is an Alumnus of the National School of Drama!

On his first shot for the television series Chanakya in 1991, he apparently took 28 takes and the director left him with an Assistant Director to rehearse. From there to where he is now, talk about growing as an artist. 

He won our hearts over and over again as the paan loving Shukla in Office Office. 

I think that he owes his fame to Rohit Shetty, irrespective of the poor roles the director gave him in his poorer movies.

But if you want to see the persons capabilities, you can watch Masaan, Newton, Baadshaho, Kadvi Hawa, Jolly LLB, Miss Tanakpur hazir ho, Dum laga ke haisha, Aankho Dekhi, Saare Jahan Se Mehenga, Phas gaye re Obama… This can go on for a while…

I know many reading this will not know names of around 90% of the movies listed, but they would have all details of the hindi remake of Sairaat.

I think it’s time now to move on the clichéd Bollywood style of movie making and give way to these splendid actors.

Till that time come, Happy Padmavati to you all!

Ciao…