9 Bollywood celebrities who dared to be different

Sidharth Malhotra

Sidharth Malhotra appeared in a romantic thriller Ek Villain in which Sidharth Malhotra was cast as Guru, a hardened criminal whose terminally-ill wife (played by Shraddha Kapoor) is murdered by a serial killer ( Riteish Deshmukh)

Kangana Ranaut

Kangana Ranaut is particularly known in the media for expressing her honest opinions in public and is frequently credited as one of the most fashionable Indian celebrities. Kangana Ranaut appeared in Vikas Bahl's Queen. The film tells the story of Rani ( Kangana Ranaut), a naive girl who embarks on her honeymoon alone after her fiancé calls off their wedding. Kangana Ranaut, who describes herself as "independent and confident", reflected that the role was one of the toughest she had played, as the character's personality traits contrasted with her own. The film and Kangana Ranaut's performance received unanimous acclaim from critics. Ranaut followed Queen by playing an aggressive politician in the black comedy Revolver Rani. In 2015, Kangana Ranaut earned critical acclaim for her performance in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, a major commercial success.

Rani Mukerji

In 2014, Rani Mukerji appeared in Pradeep Sarkar's crime thriller Mardaani, in which she played the lead role of Shivani Shivaji Roy, a Maharashtrian policewoman involved in a kidnapping case that leads her to uncover secrets of human trafficking in India. She took on the role "to show all girls what the reality is, what the world has come to, and how they need to protect themselves."

Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt played the protagonist of Imtiaz Ali's road film Highway opposite Randeep Hooda. Her portrayal of a lonely teenage girl who develops stockholm syndrome after being abducted was acclaimed by the critics. She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress for the film, and garnered a Best Actress nomination at the ceremony.

Varun Dhawan

The crime thriller 'Badlapur' from director Sriram Raghavan saw Varun Dhawan play a man who over the course of 15 years avenges the murder of his wife and son. Portraying the character was a "terrifying" experience for Varun Dhawan, who slipped into depression as after a point it no longer felt like he was acting in a film.

Shahid Kapoor

Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet featuring Shahid Kapoor as the titular protagonist. For the role, Shahid Kapoor shaved his head and learned to speak in a Kashmiri dialect. Shahid Kapoor described the film as the "toughest" of his career, and waived his fees to star in it.

Aamir Khan

‘Mr. Perfectionist’ Aamir Khan appeared as the eponymous alien in Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama PK. The film received critical acclaim and emerged as the highest grossing Bollywood film of all time. Aamir Khan's performance was unanimously praised by critics.

Priyanka Chopra

Mary Kom is biographical sports drama film starring Priyanka Chopra in the lead role as the eponymous boxer. To prepare for the role, Priyanka spent time with Mary Kom and received four months of boxing training. Priyanka has undergone a rigorous amount of training to achieve the strength and body of a boxer. It won the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at the 62nd National Film Awards.

Amitabh Bachchan

Paa is a 2009 Indian comedy-drama film directed by R. Balakrishnan starring Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Vidya Balan. Amitabh Bachchan played a role of 12-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic disorder called progeria. Amitabh Bachchan received his third National Film Award for Best Actor and his fifth Filmfare Best Actor Award and Vidya Balan got her first Filmfare Best Actress Award.