Did you know Anil Kapoor was once known as AK Rao?

Stars changing their name’s spelling according to astrology for bringing in good luck have been a popular trend in Bollywood. However, there were also a few actors who changed their names in order to gain mass appeal.

While he is a big name in Bollywood now but very few would know that our Jhakkas actor Anil Kapoor had once tried his luck down South when he was starting off in his career. However, back then in the Southern industry, the actors followed the trend of changing their names and even Anil succumbed to these pressures.

Reminiscing about his habit of changing names, the actor shared, “When I started off my career, I was doing small roles in Bollywood, I was not getting the kind of roles I wanted to do. So, again and again, I was being offered these small roles only but then I got an offer from Bapu sir for a leading man for Telugu film ‘Vamsa Vruksham’. I was like ‘I will settle here only if I was not getting work in Hindi cinema’. If I would have retained my name as Anil Kapoor, then it would give that North Indian flavour. That time popular actors down south were like NT Rama Rao, Nageshwar Rao so I kept my name as AK Rao.”

Anil went on to add further, “Then after that Telugu film I got to do a Mani Ratnam movie ‘Pallavi Anu Pallavi’. Later I started getting work here (in Bollywood) and things changed. I wanted to work, so if a change in name could get me to work, then I was willing to do that.”

You will be surprised to know that AK Rao was not the only name that Anil used. He even used his elder brother Boney Kapoor’s name to get a job!

Laughing at the incident where he used Boney’s name, Anil shared, “Before I started working as AK Rao, I did one show where I had called myself Achal Kapoor, which is Boney’s real name. I thought that maybe because of the name, I wasn’t getting any work. That’s when I decided to stick to my own name, Anil Kapoor.”

We are glad that we came across this story or else we would have never known about this interesting phase in Anil’s life. What about you guys?

Also Read: What Anil Kapoor did for his staff will make you want a boss like him

Pooja Sharma

Cinephile. Bibliophile. Pluviophile. Selenophile. Autophile. Aesthete. Blood group- Tea positive. Poetry lover. Sucker of rom-coms.

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