Top 10 Bollywood Celebs Who Have Been The Most Experimental With Their Choice Of Roles

Some actors and actresses prefer to stick to a specific genre of roles, whereas others are more open to experimenting with different characters, can take risks, and are versatile. The latter group of artists is often admired for their various roles throughout their careers. Here is a list of the top 10 Bollywood celebs who have been experimenting with their choice of roles.

1. Ayushmann Khurrana

Ayushman Khurrana has always been exclusive in his choice of roles. He made his film debut in 2012 with Vicky Donor as a sperm donor, who received critical recognition and commercial success. He never flinched from playing the part of battling premature balding in Bala to being gay in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. He also set into breaking the taboo by enacting the role of suffering from erectile dysfunction in Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and a lone male student in the gynecology department in Doctor G.

2. Amitabh Bachchan

Although he was known as an action hero in the 1970s, Bachchan had never refrained from experimenting with offbeat roles. He has acted in over 200 cinemas and has played a variety of roles. In the iconic film, Deewaar his character turns into a criminal to support his family while his brother becomes a police officer. He also played a dual role in Don. He portrayed the role of a 12-year-old suffering from progeria in Paa while in the 60s. In the movie Laawaris, Big B got into the character of a woman, in Aakhree Raasta he played a double role of an older man and his age. His dialogue, “No is a complete sentence” in Pink, a courtroom drama, has been an inspiration for many people.

3. Irrfan Khan

This phenomenal actor won the Netpac Award for International Asian Film for his performance in Qissa. He was illustrated as a Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin in Laal Ghaas Par Neele Ghode. The protagonist even played the main villain in Darr. In Paan Singh Tomar, he played an athlete and soldier who turned bandit, a widower in The Lunchbox, an old widower, and finally, in Madaari, a man revolting against corruption.

4. Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, from playing an unsuccessful actor in Bombay Talkies, the biopic of Dashrath Manjhi in Manjhi: The Mountain Man, to be a sidekick in Talash just after the superhit film Gangs of Wasseypur, has been a versatile actor. His portrayal of a bank robber in Badlapur seeks the viewer’s attention. For Bengali filmmaker Budhhadeb Dasgupta's Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa, he went into an experimental mode portraying a clumsy directive. He even acted in Maqbool, the adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a gangster who falls in love with the boss’s mistress.

5. Vidya Balan

Vidya showcased her potential in her debut film, Parineeta where a shy girl turns into a strong woman. Kahaani grabbed the audience’s attention as a mystery pregnant woman. She didn’t hesitate to switch as an antagonist in Ishqiya, a strong brothel head in Begum Jaan, and a sensuous actor in The Dirty Picture which earned her the National Award for Best Actress. Her transformation is intriguing in The Bobby Jasoos.

6. Bhumi Pednekar

Bhumi's body transformation has been phenomenal in Dum Lagake Haisha. In search of extraordinary stories, she captured viewers’ attention in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Bala, Badhaai Do, and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan in combating social orthodoxies. She aces from playing the role of an aged sharpshooter woman in Saand Ki Aankh to a strong survivor in Sonchiriya. She portrays a range of emotions being witty in Durgamati.

7. Radhika Apte

She believes that short films allow more experimentation, such as in Ahalya horror mystery, That Day After Everyday where she fought back against her assaulters, in The Wedding Guest, being a young bride, and in Vakratunda Swaha plays a pregnant woman. Her other mainstream films include Pad Man a wife of a social activist in a rural area, Andhadhun, a victim of a hit-and-run case where she portrays a crucial part of the plot twist. She also shifted to play the role of a RAW agent and a spy in Sacred Games and A Call to Spy respectively.

8. Vikrant Massey

A rising star who started his career as a dancer gained popularity as an actor in A Death in Gunj, and played the role of a shy young man who later became involved in mystery. He did not hang back to enact a feminist drama in Lipstick Under My Burkha, a social activist in Chhapak. Web series like Mirzapur notably his transformation from a sober man to being involved in crimes, Criminal Justice, and Made in Heaven gained him popularity. Vikrant moved out of track playing the role of an astronaut transporting dead people to the afterlife Cargo and Haseen Dilruba where his character goes through a range of emotions through his married life.

9. Jitendra Kumar

Kumar took the role of a gay in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. He also acted as a supporting actor in Chintu ka Birthday, Gone Kesh, and Shubh Mangal Savdhaan. He won the audience’s hearts through the character of Jeetu Bhaiya in Kota Factory and Abhishek Tripathi in Panchayat. He even experimented with a comical role in Chaman Bahaar. He also plays the role of a loner in Cheesecake and portrays the hostel life of a student in Hostel Daze.

10. Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra has played diverse characters in her career. With Aitraaz, she establishes herself as a bold antagonist. She is the caring and devoted wife, of Peshwa Bajirao, Kashi Bai in Bajirao Mastani who, despite initial jealousy, later supports Mastani, her husband’s second wife where she plays with complex emotions. This versatile actor plays the role of an autistic young woman in Barfi, a boxer in the biography of Mary Kom, a successful businesswoman who is unhappy in marriage in Dil Dhadakne Do, a killer in a black comedy of 7 Khoon Maaf as well as a policewoman in Don.