These 5 Telugu Heroes surprised us with their Bollywood debuts

Star heroes like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh or Ram Charan; they all tried their luck in Bollywood only after acquiring a super-star status in the domestic circuit. Speaking in general, impressing Hindi filmmakers has always been a daunting task for many South Indian actors which include the leading ladies as well. Despite acclaimed performances and successive hit films, flying to Mumbai has been an unfulfilled dream for many.

But, considering the immense craze and massive box-office numbers for South Indian films in recent years, production houses are leaving no stone unturned to rope in the perfect star cast. Take Rana, Siddharth or Sudheer Babu, for instance, these talented men have surprised us by bagging a Bollywood opportunity all of a sudden. You can call it luck, but there is skill & talent blended with it.

Hailing from the influential family of Ramanaidu & Suresh Babu, Daggubati Rana made his silver screen debut in 2010 with Sekhar Kammula’s political-drama ‘Leader’. Before foraying into acting, the handsome hunk was a successful technician-cum-producer. As a VFX company owner, he won the State Nandi Award for Best Special Effects in 2006 for ‘Sainikudu’, and the National Film Award for co-producing the children’s film ‘Bommalata’.

After a fairly impressive debut in Tollywood, the 33-year-old surprised everyone by signing his next in Hindi cinema titled ‘Dum Maaro Dum’. Despite the action-thriller tanked at the box-office, Rana kept on playing supporting roles and cameos in Bollywood like the ones in ‘Department’ and ‘Baby’. He recently replaced Nana Patekar in ‘Housefull 4’ after the veteran actor quit the film owing to sexual harassment allegations against him.

Rajahmundry-born Harshvardhan made his Telugu film debut by playing the male lead in the 2010 youthful-comedy ‘Thakita Thakita’. Following the success of ‘Prema Ishq Kaadhal’, the 34-year-old continued his protagonist journey in films like ‘Avunu’ and ‘Maaya’. After donning supporting characters in a queue of big-ticket films, Harshvardhan grabbed the golden chance to fly to Mumbai.

He made his Bollywood debut in 2016 with the romantic-drama ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ in which he romanced Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane. With the war film ‘Paltan’ in the pipeline, Harshvardhan Rane is rumoured to be dating Kim Sharma at present.

Despite introduced to the Telugu film industry as the son-in-law of the Ghattamaneni household, Sudheer Babu was quick to establish himself as a bankable protagonist with several super-hits like ‘Prema Katha Chitram’, ‘Sammohanam’ and the latest ‘Nannu Dochukunduvate’. The former national Badminton player belongs to the rare breed of South Indian heroes who own a stunning physique and decent acting chops.

Impressed by his dazzling screen-presence, director Sabbir Khan roped in Sudheer Babu to play the antagonist opposite Tiger Shroff in the 2016 super-hit film ‘Baaghi’. The 39-year-old delivered a commendable performance in the menacing character of Raghav.

Despite being a Tamil actor, Siddharth struck the right chord with Telugu viewers with blockbuster films like ‘Boys’, ‘Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana’ and ‘Bommarillu’. With just four movies under his belt, Siddharth surprisingly received a call from Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra in 2006 to play a pivotal role in ‘Rang De Basanti’. His dual portrayal as Karan Singhania & Bhagat Singh received tremendous applause from all corners and brought him several awards. He later appeared in a couple of Hindi flicks like ‘Striker’ and ‘Chashme Baddoor’.

After assisting Gautham Vasudev Menon for ‘Surya s/o Krishnan’, Sundeep Kishan moved to Hyderabad and bagged his first acting assignment as an arrogant teenager in Deva Katta’s highly-appreciated ‘Prasthanam’. With just two films under his belt, the 31-year-old amazed everybody by bagging a pivotal role in the Bollywood film ‘Shor in the City’. His latest Telugu film ‘Next Enti’ is directed by popular Hindi filmmaker Kunal Kohli of ‘Fanaa’ fame.

The ‘Routine Love Story’ actor is desperate for a solid hit as all his recent films failed to satisfy the audience.