Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, Rohan Sippy, Ekta Kapoor, and Subhash Ghai’s banners are launching newcomers. But only time will tell how many survive. For now, some of them appear sure to enter the big league. Most debutants advise freshers to not give up hope and continue to audition. Right.
Rana Daggubati
Son of Telugu producer Suresh Babu, he has managed to grab more headlines than Abhishek Bachchan for his Hindi debut, Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum. Rana, who is rumoured to be dating Bipasha Basu, was noticed by the filmmaker in the Telugu film Leader. Rana has trained at Barry John’s acting academy. He has also undergone a stunt director’s training at AFW, New Jersey.
Nargis Fakhri
Rumoured to be dating Ranbir Kapoor currently, Nargis makes her Bollywood entry in Imitiaz Ali’s Rockstar. Reportedly, she auditioned for America’s Next Top Model, where she failed to make a mark, and then moved her base to Mumbai. She even modelled for the annual Kingfisher calendar, which got her noticed.
Nishan Nanaiah
Nishan Nanaiah is playing one of the central characters in Subhash Ghai’s Cycle Kick, directed by Shashi Sudigala. The film’s about two brothers who come across a broken cycle that becomes a part of their life. An FTII graduate, Nishan has worked in a couple of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam movies before landing his big Bollywood break.
Preeti Desai
Preeti, who makes her debut in Shor In The City, is Abhay Deol’s girlfriend. The duo, it’s learnt, has secretly gotten engaged. The ex-Miss Great Britain was born in Middlesbrough, and has appeared on the Kingfisher Calendar. Preeti’s co-stars are Tusshar Kapoor and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
Ileana D’Cruz
After working for over five years in Telugu films, Ileana D’ Cruz caught director Anurag Basu’s eye, who paired her with Ranbir Kapoor in Barfee, that has recently gone on floors. She went through voice and diction coaching for the film, where she will share screen space with Priyanka Chopra too. Ileana’s role was first offered to Deepika Padukone and Asin.
Zoa Morani, Harsh Nagar and Satyajeet Dubey
SRK’s Always Kabhi Kabhi launches Zoa, Harsh and Satyajeet. Harsh trained at Kishore Namit Kapoor and Barry John’s schools, and the New York Film Academy. He also worked in HBO Europe’s French film. Zoa assisted on Om Shanti Om and Hallabol, and trained at Anupam Kher and Barry John’s acting schools. Satyajeet is theatre veteran Satyadev Dubey’s grandson and has assisted Karan Johar.
Sundeep Kishan
He’s another debutant in Shor In The City. He plays a cricket enthusiast, trying to bribe his way into a cricket team. Sundeep has worked in Telugu films like Prasthanam after assisting Gautham Menon on South films like Varanam and Ayiram.
Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan
Karan Johar’s high school musical, Student Of The Year, will star debutants Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan. Soni and Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter, Alia was introduced to Karan by his writer-friend Niranjan Iyengar. Varun is filmmaker Davin Dhawan’s son. He and Siddharth have worked as assistant directors with Karan on his movies.
Arjun Kapoor, Tahaa Shah
Produced by Aditya Chopra and directed by Bumpy, Luv Ka The End will feature Taaha Shah opposite Shakti Kapoor’s daughter Shraddha. Boney Kapoor’s son Arjun makes his debut in another film from the same banner called Virus Diwan, a tech-based caper.
