Bollywood is a place where the destinies of actors change every Friday and it’s not easy to make it big here. It’s even more difficult if you are an outsider with no Godfather in the industry, but there are actors who made it big and rose from slum to stardom with their dedication and hard work. Here is the list of the top 5 Bollywood actors who rose from slum to stardom.
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar is one of the biggest stars of the country who gave many hit movies in his career and now is at the top of the game but his journey till here was not an easy walk. He was born in a middle-class family in Delhi and his family shifted to Mumbai when he was a kid. He was not good at studies but very much interested in sports. He went to Bangkok to learn martial arts and there he did many odd jobs to sustain himself and even worked as a waiter. After coming back to India, he did some petty jobs including being a salesman and he used to give martial arts classes where he was noticed and offered modeling projects as he was a good-looking guy. While doing modeling, he got interested to become an actor and his first movie was Saugandh which didn’t do well at the box office and he tasted success for the first time with Khiladi. After that, he cemented his place in Bollywood as an action hero and later he expanded his reach with comedies and social drama movies.
The success story of Nawazuddin Siddique is nothing less than a fairy tale. He was born and brought up in a small town in Uttar Pradesh and after he was grown up, he decided to be an actor. He joined the National School of Drama (NSD) and after completing his term there he came to Mumbai to work in Bollywood. The life here was not easy for him and many times he had to sleep without eating anything because he had no money. His first movie appearance was in the movie Sarfarosh where he had a blink-and-miss role. He then appeared in many movies like that only whether it’s Shool or Munnabhai MBBS. His first significant role was in Anurag Kashyap’s controversial movie Black Friday. He worked in movies like New York, Peepli Live after that but his major breakthrough came with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur movies and after that, there was no looking back for him and today he is one of the busiest actors in Bollywood.
Rajnikanth
Rajnikanth is one of the biggest superstars ever who has a massive fan following and his stature in Tamil Nadu is nothing less than a demi-God. His fans made a temple in his name quite literally but his journey till here was not a cakewalk. He was born in a Marathi family in Bangalore and he later shifted to Chennai to try his luck in acting. He learned Tamil and did petty jobs for his living; he worked as a bus conductor also. He was first noticed by famous director K. Balachander who gave him a role in Apoorva Raagangai. He then went into doing many movies, especially in Tamil remakes of Amitabh Bachchan movies and the success of these movies cemented his position as a bankable actor. He worked in some hit Bollywood movies also like Andha Kanoon, Chalbaaz, Giraftar, and Hum. Then in 1995, came the blockbuster Tamil movie Basha where Rajinikanth played the role of a crime boss, the movie became a blockbuster and earned him a ‘god-like’ status in Tamil Nadu.
Boman Irani
Boman Irani is one of the most well-known actors in Bollywood who rose to fame with Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster movie Munnabhai MBBS. He lost his father quite early and he worked with his mother at their ancestral Parsi bakery shop. He also worked as a waiter and room service boy at the Taj H*tel, Mumbai. In his free time, he acted in plays and that’s where he was noticed by famous ad maker Ram Madhvani who gave him the main role in his off-beat movie Let’s Talk. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra was quite impressed by his acting and offered him the role of Dr. Asthana in Munnabhai MBBS. It was a game-changer for Boman Irani and after working in movies like Khosla Ka Ghosla, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Main Hoon Na, and 3 Idiots, he cemented his position in the Hindi film industry.
Mehmood
Mehmood was one of the most popular comedians during the 60s and 70s who enthralled the audience with his performances, especially in movies like Gumnaam and Padosan. He started his career as a child artist and when he grew up, before joining the film industry, he did jobs like being a poultry seller, driver, and many more odd jobs, and then he joined Bollywood as a character actor, mostly a comedian and became quite famous. He later became a producer and he is the one who gave Amitabh Bachchan a major role when he was struggling to be an actor in the movie Bombay to Goa.
