Rasika Dugal, Sayani Gupta, Jitendra Kumar: A list of unconventional actors who bring freshness to screens

New Delhi: In the times when only star power is believed to drive the audience to theatres, these few clutter breaker actors proved they are unconventional yet starry in their performances on the big screens. With the advent of OTT platforms, a new version of stardom has emerged which is not dependent on Box Office numbers but content.  

Let's take a look at the list of few actors who have chosen the offbeat path and impressed the fans:

Sayani Gupta

The young and talented actress impressed one and sundry in Shonali Bose’s 'Margarita With A Straw' opposite Kalki Koechlin. She has a few other notable performances in Leena Yadav’s 'Parched', Anubhav Sinha’s Article 15, and Amazon original series, Four More Shots Please! She mainstream Bollywood, she was seen in Jolly LLB 2, Fan, and Baar Baar Dekho. But her breakout film is the recently released Axone. Directed by filmmaker Nicholas Kharkongor, this Netflix film is produced by Yoodlee Films. 

Jitendra Kumar

The actor is an OTT favourite face. An IIT Kharagpur alumnus, he started exploring theatre, began to trend in The Viral Fever (TVF) shows like Kota Factory, the acclaimed Amazon original Panchayat, and played a significant role opposite Ayushmann Khurrana in the comedy Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan. His latest release  that got him rave reviews everywhere was Apurva Dhar Badgaiyann’s Netflix release, Chaman Bahaar. 

Aparshakti Khurana

Aparshakti Khurana has played supporting roles in many blockbusters like Dangal, Badrinath ki Dulhaniya, Stree, and Street Dancer. It is in Kanpuriye (streaming on Hotstar) though, that he finally played a lead role along with Divyendu Sharma, and Harsh Mayar. 'Kanpuriye' is directed by Ashish Aryan.

Rasika Dugal

Rasika Dugal is a known face of alternative storytelling on the big screen and OTT platforms with powerful performances in films like Kshay, Qissa, and Manto as well as Amazon favourites Mirzapur and Made in Heaven. Her starring role in Hotstar’s Out of Love and performance in the Netflix series Delhi Crime also impressed the critics and fans. This mathematics graduate and FTII alumnus has risen to this point in her career through a long journey. 

In 2018, she played the role of helpless wife and mother in the National Award-winning film -  Hamid. This moving adaptation of the play, Phone No. 786 by Mohd. Amin Bhat went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Urdu at the 66th National Film Awards.

Vinay Pathak 
He is a popular name in the industry who has worked in film, TV and theatre. Starting as a Channel V VJ, he went on to etch memorable performances in films like Khosla Ka Ghosla and even pulled off leading roles in offbeat offerings like Dasavidaniya, Bheja Fry, and Gaur Hari Dastaan.