Female Debuts of 2006

Female Debuts of 2006

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

There was a boom of female newcomers in Bollywood this year. Some of them featuring on the silver screen had already made their mark on television and created a strong impression on the audiences. While for some, this was the first encounter with camera. Some debutants of this year were quite talented while some others desperately need to relearn their acting lessons well. On the whole, very few actresses who entered Bollywood this year seemed to have the capabilities of being successful in long term.

Ilene Hamman, the South African beauty, was the first to go on the list of newcomers this year with the film Rog. Ilene, a Pooja Bhatt discovery, had a good screen presence, but she was expressionless in most situations.

Antonia Bernath, a British actress, was launched by Subhash Ghai in Kisna. A student of Bristol's Old Vic Theatre School, Antonia opted out from the school when her agent asked her to audition for Kisna and luckily she bagged the role. She handled a very challenging role given to her responsibly and gracefully. Kisna's second girl too was a debutante. Isha Sharvani, the daughter of renowned dancer Daksha Sheth, played the second female lead in Kisna but could display her dancing and dangling-from-trees skills more than her acting prowess.

After working in some offbeat films, Nandana Sen made her debut in mainstream cinema in Black and was impressive in a small but significant role. She was also seen in Tango Charlie and My Wife's Murder.

Anjana Sukhani was another newcomer who appeared to be supremely talented but got rather unnoticed. Anjana appeared in a number of commercials and also played a small part with Hrithik in Na Tum Jaano Na Hum. The actress finally got her major break in Kushan Nandy's Humdum. Anjana handled her part like a true professional in the film and is currently working on Nikhil Advani's Salaam-e-Ishq.

Tamanna was ok in Chand Sa Roshan Chera but made more news when her pictures were wrongly plastered all over claiming to be those of the controversial bar-dancer Tarannum. Sneha Ullal was one of the highest attention-grabbing debutants this year. Spotted first by Salman Khan's sister, the young college student was made to appear like an exact look alike of Aishwarya Rai in Salman Khan's in Lucky - No Time For Love with ease. Next she is going to appear in Sohail Khan's Aryan.

Nobody noticed Mahima Mehta in Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Pakistani actress Meera stepped into the Indian film industry with Mahesh Bhatt's Nazar. She later starred in Kasak opposite Lucky Ali. Chitrangda Singh made her entry and exit from Bollywood in the same year. She started with Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi and ended with Kal - Yesterday and Tomorrow citing family problems.

Tania Zaetta became a known face in India when she hosted a reality action show on AXN. The Australian beauty made her debut in Bollywood with a minuscule role in Bunty Aur Babli. But she was more recognized in Salaam Namaste where she played Arshad Warsi's wife. Next she will be seen playing one of the Charlie's Angels in Mr. Black Mr.White.

Mona Chopra made her debut in the skin-flick Time Pass. Reportedly she has now been rechristened as Maneka and plans to re-debut with her new name in Vinod Sins Pande's Red Swastik. Ex-Miss Madhya Pradesh Tanvi Verma who made news for some explicit photo-shoots made a cold debut in Bold.

Vidya Balan, a natural beauty, appeared in quite a few ad commercials, music videos and also TV serials before she got her big break in Parineeta. Vidya gave a striking performance in the movie and added to the Indianess and aesthetic value of the film with her natural charisma.

Nisha Kothari, is new female to join the Ram Gopal Varma camp. She did her debut in Sarkar, in which she played a character role but her lead role was in James in which Nisha gave a better display of her physical "assets" rather than her acting talent. Her future films also come from the RGV Factory, which includes Shiva and Boo - Darna Zaroori Hai.

Newcomer Minissha Lamba had a decent debut in a beautiful film Yahaan. Impressed by her aptitude Madhur Bhandarkar cast her in Corporate. Tanushree Dutta was the latest of beauty queens to join the movie business. The ex-Miss India was an okay actor in Aashiq Banaya Apne and seemed to concentrate more on makeup and outfits. She also starred in Chocolate this year.

Sushma Reddy made her big screen debut with Chocolate. She was cute in the film but didn't have much to do as a performer. Annabelle Wallace appeared photogenic and acted pretty well in Dil Jo Bhi Kahey. National award winning Bengali actress Rituparna Sengupta made a confident debut to Hindi films with Main Meri Patni Aur Who.

Television actresses Sonal Sehgal and Kranti Redkar were quite competent but went unobserved in the smalltime flick U, Bomsi N Me. Sophie Chaudhary was first seen on television quite a few years back when she was a part of a girl band from UK. She then disappeared and came back as VJ on MTV. This UK based Indian beauty made her Bollywood debut with Shaadi No.1 this year.

Daisy Bopanna, Nargis and Neetu Chandra were efficient in Garam Masala. Sonya Jehan, the grand daughter of the famous Pakistani singer Noor Jehan finally made her debut in the long-delayed Taj Mahal. She looked extremely beautiful and enacted her part pretty well. Chahat Khanna was mediocre in The Film.

Sex Bomb Deepal Shaw known for her 'Rangeela Re' moves in music videos, made her big screen debut with Kalyug. She got well into the 'skin' of her character in the film and was quite noticeable throughout the movie. Smily Suri, sister of director Mohit Suri, finally got herself a part in her brother's film, after being thrown out of Pooja Bhatt's Holiday. She had a brief role in Kalyug in which she seemed fine.


Faces to look out for in 2006

A lot of firang females will be seen in desi films in 2006. Hollywood actress, Ali Larter, famous for her roles in movies like Final Destination, Legally Blonde and House On The Haunted Hill will enter Bollywood with the much talked about film Marigold opposite Salman Khan. Alice Patten, another actress from Hollywood, known for her roles in television series like "Charles II: The Power & the Passion", is one of the casts in Rang De Basanti. Shannon Esra will be a part of Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer project Salaam-e-Ishq.

Deepika Padukone, daughter of ex-badminton player Prakash Padukone, who was last seen as the Close-Up girl gets her big break opposite Shahrukh Khan in Farah Khan's Happy New Year. And while Anil Kapoor is still romancing babes in Bollywood his daughter Sonam Kapoor will finally make her debut in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya opposite Rishi Kapoor's son Ranbir.