The actors who came in last year have already begun to appear over-exposed over-hyped and arrogant. Names like Arjun Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana, Sushant Singh Rajput. Aliya Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra have been promoted to become premature stars, endorsing everything from cellphones to stardom, way out of the reach of producers who can’t afford fattened fees paid to one-movie wonders. There are other names that have demonstrated brilliance in their own right making their presence felt without sugar daddys or the backing of Dharma Productions or Yashraj Films. Let’s have a look at the names of promising actors who are an asset for the Bollywood. Shadab Kamal from B A Pass: The young actor has chosen to fearlessly play a gigolo in his debut film. Capturing the ethos of pathos that contours this murky profession, Shabab plays the hustler offering unprotected room service to neglected housewives in Delhi without remose or selfpity. Shadab is the male debutant of the year who doesn’t belong to a film family and has so far not gotten himself a marketing team to make him look like a star after one release. Amyra Dastur of Issaq: So okay. Her debut film was not much liked by most. Nonetheless Amyra as a pampered Varanasi-based Juliet in Manish Tiwary’s Issaq offers enough evidence of being one of the most promising newcomers in recent times. Her Issaq producers have already signed her for another film. It’s only a matter of time before Amyra, disconnected from the film industry would have a queue of producers demanding her dates. Neeraj Kabi of Ship Of Theseus: Watch him go through the astonishing process of transforming into a monk in Anand Gandhi’s superlative-defying cinema. You will immediately see Neeraj has the potential to be our finest actor since Naseeruddin Shah. Inured in theatre acting, passionate about the art of embracing, and not playing, characters Neeraj brings to Hindi cinema a casual intensity that present day stars are found faking on screen. Sri Swara of D Day: In a cast teeming with gifted scene-stealers this newcomers playing Irrfan Khan’s wife left an indelible impression. Everyone wanted to know who she was. And though her name didn’t ring a bell Sri Swara Dubey is now being universally sought in the film industry as ‘Irrfan Khan’s wife.’ That perception would change the minute she appears in another film. Girish Kumar of Prabhudheva’s Ramaiyya Vasavaiya: Prabhudheva ensured this pampered producer’s son got a rock-it launch. But hang on. Girish is determined to be known as more than just Kumar Taurani’s heir apparent. In his debut film the Taurani lad was a bundle of restless energy. He didn’t prove himself a great actor. But he spoke his lines much more clearly than Varun Dhawan in his debut film. I’d select Girish as cinema student of the year. Riz Ahmed of Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist: He did not make the hammering impact that his role of Changez Khan the victim of post 9/11 Islam phobia in the US should have in Mira’s film. But Riz’s command over his Urdu and English diction certainly makes him a better candidate for Bollywood stardom than some of the self-crowned stars who need their Hindi dialogues written in the Roman alphabet. Riz is coming to Bollywood to give the Sids and the Sushants a run for their money. Dhanush of Aanand Rai’s Raanjhanaa: Before Dhanush South Indian superstars were booted out Bollywood before we could say, ‘Aiyyo’. Or should that be Aaiyya? Aiyyo or Aiyya, Dhanush with the sincere demeanour and honest personality is here to stay. Tapsee Pannu of David Dhawan’s Chashme Buddoor: There’s something about this girl. Something spunky and sassy that reminds us the early Preity Zinta. Tapsee Pannu is that rarity in Bollywood who doesn’t look like she sleeps it out in the gym and eats two grains of rice for breakfast. Full-bloodied and robust, funky and yet feminine Tapsee is the portrait of unrehearsed vivacity. Poonam Pandey of Nasha: Okay, she is no Shabana Azmi. But Poonam Pandey in her debut film proved she was no mere pinup girl. She is confident and understands camera angles. And she is certainly less synthetic than Tamannah whose debut in Himmatwala ranks among the worst new acts in Bollywood in recent times. Sara Loren of Murder 3: She is hot and got what it takes to win friends and influence the boxoffice. Sara’s femme fatale bearing in her debut film would have worked better if she had been allowed to dub her own lines. But given that Aditi Rao had the author-backed role Sara stood her ground in those dangerously low-cut gowns. Cleavage is no longer a passport to Stardom. These then are the newcomers this year who have tried to re-define the leading actor’s space. The coming months would prove whether they have the staying-power to preserve themselves from the over-hyped Big Corporate Producers’ blue-eyed boys and girls who after one release were able to create the illusion of stardom.