These Bollywood actors shined bright in the first half of 2017

Hrithik Roshan, Yami Gautam (‘Kaabil’)

Playing a blind character is not an easy task, but Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam, made us feel like it was a cakewalk for them in ‘Kaabil’. Well, we are sure it was a very difficult task to play a physically challenged character, but Hrithik and Yami nailed it in the movie.

Kangana Ranaut (‘Rangoon’)

Kangana was in news for all the wrong reasons last year and earlier this year. But, then once ‘Rangoon’ released, people forgot everything, but they were just praising Kangana's fantastic performance in the Vishal Bhardwaj-directorial. The film had two prominent actors, Shahid Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, but it was Kangana who stole the show. Unfortunately, the film didn’t work well at the box office.

Varun Dhawan (‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’)

Varun Dhawan had proved his mettle as an actor with his intense performance in ‘Badlapur’. But, the actor made us laugh, smile and cry with his act in ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’. It’s very rare that we come out of a masala entertainer and we praise the lead actor like hell. We won’t be wrong if we say that as Badri, Varun gave one of the best performances of his career.

Rajkummar Rao (‘Trapped’)

Some actors just go the extra mile to prepare for their character and one of them is Rajkummar Rao. Do you know Rajkummar was just having carrots and coffee to look his part in ‘Trapped’? Well, the actor gave a brilliant performance in the film, and has made it to our list.

Swara Bhaskar (‘Anaarkali of Aarah’)

In 2016, Swara Bhaskar gave a fantastic performance in ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, and in 2017 came ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’. With every film Swara has been proving that she is the most versatile actress we have in Bollywood, and yes, even the most underutilised. We surely want to see her more on the big screen.

Taapsee Pannu (‘Naam Shabana’)

Bollywood has never seen a spin-off prequel of a movie, but this year we had ‘Naam Shabana’. Taapsee had impressed everyone with her small role in ‘Baby’, so the makers came up with a spin-off on her character Shabana. Taapsee as Shabana gave a terrific performance and stole the show even in the presence of actors like Akshay Kumar, Manoj Bajpayee, Anupam Kher and Danny Denzongpa.

Vidya Balan (‘Begum Jaan’)

From mouthing cuss words without any hesitation to holding a gun to save her house, Vidya Balan was simply outstanding in and as ‘Begum Jaan’. She has always proved that she is one of the best actresses we have in Bollywood and with ‘Begum Jaan’ Vidya once again proved that she can play any character given to her.

Sonakshi Sinha (‘Noor’)

After watching ‘Noor’, it felt like Sonakshi Sinha's real talent has been wasted all these years. Sonakshi gave the best performance of her career in ‘Noor’, and believe us, for us she is a strong contender for Best Actress awards.

Prabhas, Anushka Shetty (‘Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion’)

From romancing to fighting like a warrior, Prabhas and Anushka Shetty were the true heroes of ‘Baahubali 2 – The Conclusion’. We are sure after this film, both the actors surely have more fans as they were too good in the movie.

Irrfan Khan, Saba Qamar (‘Hindi Medium’)

In ‘Hindi Medium’, Irrfan Khan and Saba Qamar were too good as a couple scouting for admission of their daughter in a good school. Their characters were very relatable. While we had expected a good performance from Irrfan, Saba was a surprise package. They surely deserved to be in our list.