Bollywood, at one time, produced a variety of films starring actors who originally began their acting careers in theatre. Stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Ratna Pathak Shah, Prithviraj Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan and several others began with the humble stage and later transitioning to the screen with ease. While there is a difference between acting on stage and acting in front of the camera, it is often argued that the stage is far tougher and if anybody can do it on stage, they can do the same on screen. Or even better.
On World Theatre Day, we take a look at the new crop of young, successful, mainstream Bollywood actors who began their journey from the stage and even now, dabble in the two.
Radhika Apte
Radhika Apte at Filmfare Awards 2016
Hailing from Pune, Radhika Apte has been performing on stage for a while now, mostly featuring in Marathi plays. She used to be a part of Mohit Takalkar’s theatre troupe Aasakta Kalamanch in addition to featuring in other popular plays, including a Hindi one titled Kanyadaan and an English play named Bombay Black.
Her big break in Bollywood took some time. Before she became popular in Bollywood in 2011, she starred in a few minor but memorable roles in films like Vaah Life Ho Toh Aisi and the Bengali film Antaheen. Currently regarded as one of Bollywood’s finest actors, she has starred opposite Rajinikanth in Kabali, opposite Akshay Kumar in PadMan, and has even played the lead role in the psychological thriller Phobia.
Rajkummar Rao
Rajkummar Rao is currently thriving in Bollywood, a feat that wasn’t so simple. While studying at Delhi University, he used to perform theatre with troupes such as Kshitij Repertory and Shri Ram Centre. He enrolled at the coveted Film and Television Institute of India, post which, he used to head to studios and meet with producers for a role.
It took him time, starring in small roles in films such as Love Sex, Aur Dhoka, Ragini MMS, Shaitan, Gangs of Wasseypur. But after Kai Po Che, things looked up for him. He played human rights activist Shahid Azmi in Shahid, a film that fetched him a National Award for Best Actor. Since then, there was no looking back. In 2017, the actor starred in six Hindi films, of which four of them featured him in the lead. He will next be starring in Fanne Khan with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anil Kapoor and Mental Hai Kya with Kangana Ranaut.
Aahana Kumra
Aahana-Kumra-1
You might remember her for her firebrand role in Lipstick Under My Burkha. However, Aahana Kumra’s association with acting isn’t new. Since her childhood, she had an inclination towards acting and had featured in several plays on stage.
Her stage soon shifted to the small screen, where she starred in Sony Entertainment Television’s Yudh with Amitabh Bachchan and also played a lead role in the TV series Agent Raghav – Crime Branch. She featured in a number of advertisements too before starring in feature films now and web-series.
Kalki Koechlin
Kalki Koechlin, Kriti Kharbanda, Pulkit Samrat At The Screening Of 3 Storeys
Kalki Koechlin, born to French parents but grew up in India, was always interested in theatre. While studying in Hebron School in Ooty, Kalki was involved in a lot of plays. After school, she shifted to London to study drama and theatre in at Goldsmiths, University of London. She even worked with the theatre company Theatre of Relativity, writing The Rise of the Wild Hunt and performing in plays such as David Hare’s The Blue Room and Marivaux’s The Dispute.
Soon after, she moved to Mumbai and worked on a few plays before making her screen debut with Dev D. Despite starring in some big films in Hindi cinema, Kalki continues to star and write plays. She started a theatre company called Little Productions in June 2015 and tours the country performing plays with other actors. She also indulges in performance poetry and featuring in short films.
Jim Sarbh
Jim Sarbh had done quite a bit of theatre before starring as the menacing terrorist in Neerja, the biopic on slain air-hostess Neerja Bhanot. After completing his graduation in Psychology at the Emory University in the US, Sarbh worked at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta for a year as a literary intern, and starred in several plays including The Show!, The Breakup, Tennis in Nablus, and Ice Glen, for which he won a Major Supporting Role Metropolitan Atlanta Theatre Award.
In Mumbai, he starred in the adaptation of Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, Eat! and Bull. Ever since his acting debut on the big screen, Sarbh has starred in significant roles including A Death In The Gunj, Raabta, and Padmaavat.
Manav Kaul
Manav Kaul is a known theatre figure, having started his own theatre company in 2004 that produced several notable plays including Ilhaam, Park and Shakkar ke Paanch Daane. He made his acting debut in Hindi cinema with fantasy film Jajantaram Mamantaram in 2003, and has been lauded for his performance as a right-wing politician in the Gujarat-based Hindi drama Kai Po Che! in 2013. In recent times, he starred as Ashok, Vidya Balan’s husband in Tumhari Sulu, a role that fetched him a Filmfare Award this year for Best Supporting Actor.
He has directed one film Hansa in 2012 so far, but mostly known for directing plays. He will next be seen in Karwaan with Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, and Mithila Palkar.
