5 Bollywood stars you never knew were from theatre

5 Bollywood stars you never knew were from theatre

- Ipsita Debnath

We love actors. Don’t we? It’s really adorable how we follow them so much. As a culturally inclined race, we respect them too. For us, acting is really something close to our heart.

Our love & respect for them glow a little brighter when they are from Bollywood - our fantasy world. We copy their fashion statement and love it when someone calls “Are! Toke to puro oi hero/heroine tar moto dekhacche!”

But did you know? Most of these fame-glam personalities train themselves really hard to be at the positions you want them to see? And these trainings are mostly multifaceted. One major (if not most) thing among them is their “acting skill”. Many of the veteran Bollywood actors like Nasiruddin Shah, Om Puri, Neena Gupta, Shabana Azmi, Ratna Pathak Shah, Anupam Kher are from theatre background.

But there are some other stardusted names from theatre background too which you probably didn’t know!

Kangna Ranaut - 

                        Who doesn’t know Kangna? She is, in fact, a start with critically acclaimed acting skills. But did you know she started doing theatre in a very early age in Delhi with the eminent theatre director Arvind Gaur. She has stated it many times that her theatre days has really helped her to stand his position in Bollywood.

Kangna Ranaut

Manav Kaul -

                      Have you watched Netflix Ghoul? Or Tumhari Sullu? You have probably seen them both. Then you know who is Manav Kaul. He is getting the Bollywood limelight very recently. But you never knew that he started as a theatre actor, director and playwright in Mumbai.

Manav Kaul

Imtiaz Ali - 

                      From Jab We Met to Rockstar to Highway to Tamasha… Imtiaz has always set our expectations higher. Though not an actor now, he started his career as a theatre actor on the Siri Fort Stage.

Imtiaz Ali

Kalki koechlin - 

                         We love this girl with a weird accent and non-Indian Looks. We have seen her acting skills in movies like The Girl in Yellow Boots and Margarita With a Straw. She has done theatre for more than a decade and also continuing to pursue it with her film career.

Kalki koechlin

Shahrukh Khan - 

                         You really didn’t know Shahrukh to be a theatre actor right? But back in 90’s he was a serious theatre actor in Delhi. He too appreciates his theatre days so much.

Shahrukh Khan

Now we know the backgrounds of some of the most eminent Bollywood actors’ skills. But it’s really sad that in spite of knowing the importance of the stage we overlook its existence. Especially in Bengal theatre can be easily called an endangered art form. Youngsters are more inclined to other formats of acting though theatre could give them a real stronghold to stand for a long run.

We from TIE think it’s time we should rethink the probabilities in theatre. It has all the possibilities to be a mainstream occupation. We are just one step behind to explore them!