7 strong Bollywood debuts from directors turned actors

Mahesh Manjrekar

Mahesh Manjrekar is a Marathi director, actor, writer and producer. He has directed famous hit movie 'Vaastav' and has acted in several films, including some of his own productions. He is best known for his negative roles specially in the movie 'Wanted' starring superstar Salman Khan.

Anurag Kashyap

Anurag Kashyap is often regarded as the face of an emerging new wave cinema for producing numerous independent films with newcomers. In 2011, he made his full-fledged acting debut, playing the antagonist Bunty Bhaiya in Tigmanshu Dhulia's crime thriller Shagird. He has also made cameo appearances in his films including Black Friday, No Smoking, Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, Luck by Chance, Dev.D, Gulaal, Soundtrack,etc.

Karan Johar

Karan Johar is famous for his directorial debut with the blockbuster romance 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, My Name Is Khan and many other blockbuster movies. He made his full-fledged acting debut alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma in Anurag Kashyap’s period drama Bombay Velvet (2015), in which he played the main antagonist.

Rajat Kapoor

Rajat Kapoor has directed many movie like Ankhon Dekhi, Fatso! and many more. In 2001, Rajat got his big mainstream break in Dil Chahta Hai, which starred Aamir Khan, as uncle of Preity Zinta's character. He is also a three time National Award winner, first for his 26-minute non-feature documentary, Tarana, then for his short, Hypnothesis, and after that for Raghu Romeo in Best Feature Film in Hindi section.

Tigmanshu Dhulia

Tigmanshu Dhulia is a famous director, dialogue writer, producer and screenwriter. He is well known for his role as Ramadhir Singh in Anurag Kashyap's modern cult film 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. The actor was last seen in the film 'Hero' in which he appeared as IG Shrikant Mathur.

Farhan Akhtar

Farhan Akhtar who is a son of Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani made his directorial debut with 'Dil Chahta Hai' in 2001. The actor has given us many hit movies like Don 2, Lakshya and many more. In 2008, he made his acting and singing debut in 'Rock On' for which he wrote the dialogues too. Later, he appeared in many movies like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Dil Dhadakne Do, etc. His acting has always been praised by everyone.

Farah Khan

Farah Khan is known for her choreographic work in numerous Bollywood films and director who has given us massive hits like Om Shanti Om, Main Hoon Na and Tees Maar Khan. She made her film acting debut in 'Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi' opposite Boman Irani which went well and received positive to mixed critical reactions.