Bollywood actors who took a giant leap

Shahid Kapoor, Mallika Sherawat, Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui

These actors, struggled hard and long enough and were seen in tiny roles in their debut films. But soon their roles started bigger and bigger, thanks to their talent. hitlist talks about a few ‘rags' to riches story...

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Debut film: Sarfarosh (1999)
The lowdown: Before Nawazuddin became one of the most recognisable faces of independent cinema in India, he starred in movies that gave him very little room to prove his worth as an actor. Playing a criminal in the Aamir Khan-starrer Sarfarosh, he barely had a scene in this crime drama; he then went on to essay a similar role in Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003).

Shreyas Talpade

Debut film: Aankhen (2002)
The lowdown: Shreyas may have won appreciation in films such as Iqbal (2005) and Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), but his story was quite different when he started out more than a decade ago. In Vipul Shah's film Aankhen, he played a garrulous tea vendor.

Shahid Kapoor

Debut film: Taal (1999)
The lowdown: If you remember watching this film, you will recollect a scene where after the song Kahin Aag Lage Lag Jaye ends, a lanky fellow runs across the stage and dances alongside Aishwarya Rai. That young man was Shahid Kapoor, who had doubled up as an extra in this Subhash Ghai film.

Irrfan

Debut film: Salaam Bombay! (1988)
The lowdown: Although Asif Kapadia's The Warrior (2001) was the film that made people sit up and take notice of Irrfan's talent, he made his debut in Mira Nair's Oscar-nominated film. He played a letter-writer who charges the child protagonist money for penning a letter to his mother.

Boman Irani

Debut film: Everybody Says I'm Fine! (2001)
The lowdown: He's best remembered for his roles in films like 3 Idiots (2009) and Jolly LLB (2013), but when Boman made his big screen debut, his character didn't even have a first name. After starring in the Rahul Bose-directed film, Everybody Says I'm Fine!, Boman took on several memorable roles.

Second time lucky
Actresses who embarked on their careers with barely-there roles only to manage better ones in their next film…

Mallika Sherawat

Debut film: Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (2002)
The lowdown: If you think Khwahish (2003) was Mallika's debut film, you're mistaken. She had a minor role in a forgettable film called Jeena Sirf Merre Liye that starred Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. Murder (2004), later on, put her under the spotlight.

Kajal Aggarwal

Debut film: Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na (2004)
The lowdown: She played friend to Aishwarya Rai's character in this film. But after this outing, she disappeared from Bollywood for seven years only to star in Rohit Shetty's commercial hit Singham (2011), opposite Ajay Devgn.

Pooja Chopra

Debut film: Fashion (2008)
The lowdown: Director Madhur Bhandarkar gave her a break in this National Award-winning film only to offer her another minor role in Heroine four years later. She scored her first leading role in Commando last year.