Popular Stars Of Bollywood Who Went Niche From Commercial For Their Second Innings

In the swiftly changing world of Bollywood where nothing is ever certain, there is only thing that can be said with certainty is the fact that content is the name of the game right now. Finally, we are approaching a territory when the content of the film is bigger than the star of the film. Even the biggest of the stars in the industry right now are giving a nod to this trend and one can clearly figure out how actors are trying to balance between commercial masala entertainers and what we have come to denote as ‘content-driven cinema’, which is clearly the flavor of the season (actually quite a few seasons)

Hence, it is understandable why actors who are making a comeback (of sorts) after enjoying years of popularity in hardcore commercial cinema are more getting inclines towards treading the road less traveled. Here are a few popular stars of Bollywood cinema who went niche from commercial for their second innings in Bollywood.

Emraan Hashmi

One of the biggest stars Bollywood produced between the early to mid-2000s was undoubtedly Emraan Hashmi. The racy and controversial Murder brought him into notice and he followed it up with many more hits which were almost based on the same template. While no one ever questioned his prowess as an actor with stellar performances in hits like Once Upon A Time Mumbai or offbeat films like Shanghai, it is only in his second innings that he is truly exploring. With Tiger and upcoming projects like Bards of Blood, the former ‘serial kisser’ is all set to go more niche.

Rishi Kapoor

Rishi Kapoor was always Bollywood royalty due to his Kapoor lineage, but one can barely fathom the madness around him when he was dishing out commercial superhits after another in the 70s and 80s. We got to see the 2.0 version of Rishi Kapoor in Karan Malhotra’s Agneepath in 2012 and ever since he has been a surprise package. While he has brought the 70s-80s superstar nostalgia to a few big-ticket films in his second innings, with films like 102 Not Out, Mulk or even Kapoor and Sons, it is clear where his loyalties lie right now.

Sridevi

There never was and never will be a superstar of Sridevi’s stature. While films like Lamhe and Sadma she showed the world what she was made of as an actor, it was ultimately commercial winners like Chandni and Chaalbaaz that made her one of the biggest phenomenons in Bollywood ever. But when the time came for her much awaited comeback, this superstar chose something like English Vinglish and followed it up with another googly like Mom. If her untimely death did not bring her journey to a screeching halt, we are sure Sridevi would have emerged as the new age icon of content-driven cinema and be a total superstar at that as well.

Rani Mukerji

Yes, I know Rani was doing ‘content-driven’ films before it became a thing, but again while something like Black or No One Killed Jessica earned her the awards and critical appreciations, the superstar Rani Mukerji was a product of huge hits like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Bunty Aur Babli. Thus it was quite a shocker when she decided to kick start her second innings in Bollywood with a smaller film like Hichki.