Talented Actors Who Won Major Awards and Recognitions Even Before Their Debut In Bollywood

For any actor, belonging to any part of the country, Bollywood opens the door for success, money, fame, and accolades. But there are a chosen few, rarest of the rare, who early on in their career, even before a debut in Bollywood managed to win some really big awards nationally and internationally.

For the purpose of this list, we have kept people like Prabhas or Diljit Dosanjh away as they were already established actors in regional cinema before they ventured into Bollywood. But we are essentially talking about actors who garnered major accolades very early on in their career before they were even a regional star and some sort and definitely before their debut in Bollywood.

Ishaan Khatter

The current heartthrob of the nation who has managed to impress everybody with his first Bollywood film Dhadak had already garnered a prestigious international award. Ishaan, who made his acting debut with Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Cloud was awarded the best actor award at International Bosphorous Film Festival

Mithun Chakraborty

Mithun Chakroborty’s growth in Bollywood and regional Bengali cinema has been almost simultaneous. But much before he became an iconic star of Bengali films or had his Bollywood debut, he bagged the prestigious National Film Award for the Best Actor for his performance in his debut film Mrigaya.

Suraj Sharma

He started his career with international project Life of Pi which went on to become one of the most successful movies globally and by the time it was time for his Bollywood debut with Phillauri he had already received a bunch of international awards, including a nomination at the hugely prestigious BAFTA awards.

Konkana Sen Sharma

The talented actress started her journey as a child artist with the Bengali film Indira. But much before she became one of the most talented actresses in both Bollywood and Bengali cinema, she bagged the National Award for the Best Actress for her role in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer which was made in English and happened to be only her second project. In fact, she won her Bengali Film Journalists Association Award for the Best Actress for her debut Bengali film as a lead, Ek Je Ache Kanya. She also received a second National Film Award as the Best Supporting Actress for Omkara