The biggest Bollywood debuts to watch out for, this year

From small screen actors and star kids to regional artists and even faces from across the border, here’s a low down on some of the new talents making their debut in Bollywood in 2015

By Debasmita Ghosh

Mahira Khan

After tugging away at our heartstrings with her telly drama, Humsafar, Pakistani actor Mahira Khan will now be crossing the border in order to romance the ­badshah of Bollywood — Shah Rukh Khan. A self-confessed Shah Rukh fan herself, the 32-year-old will be seen playing his leading lady in Rahul Dholakia’s film, Raees.

Swastika Mukherjee

One of the most popular actors of Bengali cinema, Swastika Mukherjee will be seen in her first Bollywood film in April, this year. Romancing actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the 34-year-old will be seen in Dibakar Banerjee’s sleuth flick, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy — an adaptation of writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s detective series.

Kapil Sharma

The funny man of the small screen is geared up for his much talked-about debut in Bank Chor — a film helmed by the Baazigar and Khiladi director duo, Abbas-Mustan. While the 32-year-old is termed as the ‘King of Comedy’ on TV, there are a lot of ­expectations on his Bollywood entry, too. Cast alongside Kapil is Eli Avram.

Akshara Haasan

South star Kamal Haasan and Bollywood actor Sarika’s younger daughter Akshara’s debut Bollywood project, Shamitabh, is ­scheduled to hit the theatres in February. Apart from ­stalwart Amitabh Bachchan, the R Balki film also stars actor Dhanush. The 23-year-old actor’s elder sister, Shruti, is also a Bollywood actor.

Athiya Shetty

Another star kid on the block to look forward to this year is ’90s actor Suniel Shetty’s daughter, Athiya (far right, above). The 22-year-old will be seen romancing another actor-kid, Sooraj Pancholi (Aditya Pancholi’s son), in Nikhil Advani’s remake of the 1983 hit, Hero. While the film was earlier slated to release in 2014, it’s now set for a June release.

Gurmeet Choudhary

After being a part of ­top-rated TV soaps and ­winning dance reality shows, the heartthrob of the small screen, 30-year-old Gurmeet Choudhary, will scorch the big screen in the Mahesh-Mukesh and Vikram Bhatt thriller, Khamoshiyan, this month. The film will also mark the debut of TV show 24 fame actor, Sapna Pabbi.

Harshvardhan Kapoor

His dad Anil Kapoor has been ruling Bollywood for ages, and his sister Sonam is among the top stars of this generation. Harshvardhan, 24, will make his acting debut with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Mirziya — a film based on the life of the legendary poet, Mirza Ghalib.

Sooraj Pancholi

Actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab’s son Sooraj’s acting career is being launched by the big daddy of Bollywood, Salman Khan, this year. The 24-year-old will romance Suniel Shetty’s daughter, Athiya, in the remake of the 1983 hit Hero, which is produced by Khan.

Karan Singh Grover

Dill Mill Gayye and Qubool Hai actor Karan Singh Grover has also taken the big leap from television to Bollywood. His debut film, Alone, is slated to release in two weeks. The 32-year-old will romance Bollywood bombshell Bipasha Basu in this Bhushan Patel- directed horror flick.