Farhan Akhtar, Farah Khan, Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia: List of Bollywood directors who turned actors
While some including Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia turned out to be star performers, others such as Farah Khan, not so much.
We have often seen actors turn into directors. But, there have been directors who took on the challenge of being an actor and some of them even turned out to be better performers than one could have thought them to be.
While some including Farhan Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Tigmanshu Dhulia turned out to be star performers, lighting up the silver screen every time they made an appearance and raising the bar really high with their stellar performances, others, even though couldn't manage to cast a charm on the audiences like their colleagues, did, however, make a mark onscreen.
Here's a list of present-day directors who took on the challenge of being an actor.
Take a look:
In the film 'AK vs AK', he is seen as a filmmaker who kidnaps the daughter of a filmstar in Vikramaditya Motwane's directorial. Anurag had also appeared as a cop in "Ghoomketu" directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra. Prior to this, he acted as a corrupt police officer, ACP Rane, in "Akira", directed by AR Murugadoss. His role of gangster Bunty Bhaiya in "Shagird", helmed by Tigmanshu Dhulia, also garnered him a lot of appreciation. Size of roles doesn`t seem to matter to him as in Zoya Akhtar`s directorial "Luck By Chance", he played a writer for a brief moment.
In 2001, Farhan made his debut as a director with 'Dil Chahta Hai', a film which was produced by his own production company Excel Entertainment, which he had established in 1999. Farhan made his acting debut in 2008 with the film "Rock On" which went onto become a massive hit. He was also the producer and writer of the film. After 'Rock On', Farhan went onto act in various films including "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara", "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", "Dil Chahta Hai", "Dil Dhadakne Do" to name a few.
As far as acting goes, he is best known for playing politician Ramadhir Singh in Anurag Kashyap`s "Gangs Of Wasseypur". He also featured in the much-publicised film "Zero", directed by Aanand L. Rai, as Shah Rukh Khan's father. Another memorable role was essaying lawyer Maqbool Memon in "Shahid", directed by Hansal Mehta. He also appeared in Honey Trehan`s "Raat Akeli Hai" as SSP Lalji Shukla.
Before his directorial debut with the romantic comedy-drama "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" in 1998, Karan did a cameo as Shah Rukh Khan's friend in the 1995 blockbuster "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge". Years later, he played a prominent role as a wealthy businessman in Anurag Kashyap's "Bombay Velvet". He also made special appearances in Bollywood songs "Chandigarh Mein" and "Aankh Maarey".
With Priyanka Chopra in the lead role, Jha cast himself in a pivotal role of his directorial "Jai Gangaajal", as DSP Bhola Nath Singh. Last year, he went on to act in "Saand Ki Aankh" starring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar and directed by Tushar Hiranandani. Jha featured as village sarpanch Rattan Singh Tomar in the film.
He is one of the first Bollywood directors who started the trend of directors doing cameos in their own films. Be it "Hero", "Ram Lakhan", "Karma", "Yaadein", "Pardes" or "Taal", he always had a signature cameo shot -- often as a passer-by in a song.
She followed the trend of directors having cameos in their films. End credits of her directorial like "Om Shanti Om" and "Main Hoon Na" feature her in a comical manner. In Karan Johar's "Student Of The Year", she was briefly seen as a judge, and she had a full-fledged role opposite Boman Irani in the romantic-comedy "Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi".