Sensational debutantes
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The coming months will see as many as 10 newbies gunning for stardom.
The fresh lot comes from familiar stock — some flaunt a modelling
background, others are suitably of half Indian-half-foreign origin,
still others are southern imports. Few of them will manage to make a
mark while most of them will disappear in a few years' time. We take a
look at Bollywood’s budding poster girls. -
Sunny Leone
Debut: Jism 2
Who's that girl: Everyone in India knows Sunny by now. The Indian-Canadian porn star who made waves on Bigg Boss last season will definitely have the most-hyped debut this year with Jism 2
this August. Born Karanjit Malhotra to Sikh parents in Ontario, Sunny
worked in a bakery and a tax firm before adult films beckoned. Despite
admitting to bisexuality, Sunny, 31, is married to co-actor Daniel
Weber. They own a porn film production house, Sunlust Pictures.
Bollywood calling: In Jism 2,
Sunny plays a girl who is send as a honey trap by a cop to nail a
criminal. Even before the film releases, she has signed Ekta Kapoor's Ragini MMS 2. -
Who's that girl: Diana,Diana PentyDebut: Cocktail
26, started out as a model, ramp-walking for Italian designers Trussadi
and Ferre in 2005, and has also sashayed for Rina Dhaka, Rohit Bal and
Wendell Rodricks. She shot to fame replacing Deepika Padukone as the
brand ambassador of the cosmetics giant, Maybelline.Bollywood calling: Ironically, Diana's debut film, Cocktail,
sees her share screen space with Deepika. She was recommended to the
film's actor-producer Saif Ali Khan by Imtiaz Ali who almost cast her in
Rockstar. Cocktail, a rom-com about a guy and two girls, casts Diana as Meera, a simple Indian girl with traditional values. -
Ileana D'Cruz
Debut: Barfi
Who's that girl: At
24, Ileana is already a veteran of sorts - having worked in 18 Tamil
and Telugu films till date. Having won a cluster of popular awards,
Ileana is considered one of the most bankable stars down south. Born in a
Goan family, she started out as a model and went onto do blockbusters
such as Devadasu, Kick and Jalsa in the South.
Bollywood calling: Ileana makes her Bollywood debut with Anurag Basu's Barfi, co-starring
Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. The much-delayed film, finally
releasing on September 14, casts her as the character through whose eyes
the story unfolds. -
Alia Bhatt
Debut: Student Of The Year
Who's that girl: Being
Mahesh Bhatt's daughter obviously makes a Bollywood entry quite easy
but Alia isn't making her debut in a film helmed by her dad. Karan
Johar, who has cast Alia as his heroine opposite Varun Dhawan and
Siddharth Malhotra in his upcoming film Student Of The Year, has been gushing about the newcomer.
Bollywood calling: Alia's
debut film is a breezy campus rom-com and she represents the new-age
college girl. This is the first time Karan Johar is directing a film
with a rank new lead cast and Alia's challenge lies in measuring upto
the standards of Kajol and Rani Mukerji - K.Jo's regular favourites. -
Angela Jonsson
Debut: Sher Khan
Who's that girl: She
is the Kingfisher Calendar Model Hunt 2011 winner who admitted dating
Ranbir Kapoor a while back. Half-Icelandic, half-Mangalorean Angela, 22,
made it to the Times 2011 list of 50 Most Desirable Women in India.
Bollywood calling:
Angela recently signed an exclusive three-film deal with Salman Khan's
home production company, and her first release will be the superstar’s
superhero project, Sher Khan. -
Tapsee Pannu
Debut: Chashme Buddoor
Who's that girl:
Tapsee, 24, is a Delhiite who studied at Mata Jai Kaur Public School in
Ashok Vihar. She was a software engineer for a while, and reportedly
developed Fontswap-an iPhone app. After a modelling stint and an
appearance on the reality show, Get Gorgeous, she got roles in Telugu and Tamil films.
Bollywood calling: Tapsee will be seen in David Dhawan's remake of the Sai Paranjpye's cult comedy hit, Chashme Buddoor.< -
Lauren Gottlieb
Debut: ABCD - Anybody Can Dance
Who's that girl: American
dancer Lauren shot to fame as a finalist on So you Think You Can Dance
3, with her jazz-funk and hip-hop moves. She has featured in Disaster Movie and Hannah Montana: The Movie.
Bollywood calling:
Lauren is probably the first bonafide American actress to make a
heroine's debut in mainstream Bollywood. She stars opposite Prabhu Deva
in ABCD-Anybody Can Dance -
Pallavi Sharda
Debut: Besharam
Who's that girl: Indian-Australian
Pallavi was born in Perth and brought up in Melbourne. A trained
Bharatnatyam dancer, she was crowned Miss India Australia in 2010. She
has worked in an Australian comedy film, Save Your Legs.
Bollywood calling: Pallavi makes her debut in Abhinav Kashyap's Besharam opposite Ranbir Kapoor. She has had her brush with Hindi films though, having done cameos in Love Breakups Zindagi and Dus Tola. -
Nidhi Subbaiah
Debut: Ajab Gazabb Love
Who's that girl: Nidhi,
25, is a Kannada actress born in Coorg and raised in Mysore. She set
off to study civil engineering but dropped off when modelling beckoned.
Her early popularity as a model fetched her film roles, and Nidhi has
already done 10 films since her debut Telugu film, Sweetheart, in 2009.
Bollywood calling: She has a cameo in Akshay Kumar's production, Oh My God!, but her full-fledged debut as a Bollywood heroine happens opposite Jackky Bhagnani in Ajab Gazabb Love, a romantic comedy. -
Priya Anand
Debut: English Vinglish
Who's that girl: Priya, 25, is a star of Tamil and Telugu films. Her big releases include Leader and Vaamanan. Born
of a half-Telugu, half-Marathi father and a Tamil mother, Priya claims
she can speak in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, English, Bengali and Spanish. She
studied journalism at the University of Albany.
Bollywood calling: Priya makes her debut in Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish, which has been in the news for being Sridevi's comeback film. Priya plays a strong character in the content-driven film.
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