Bollywood stars who shone brightly on the international stage

Popular Hindi film personalities who made the acting move from east to west

• Asjad Nazir
• 30 August, 2024

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By: Asjad Nazir

KAREENA KAPOOR KHAN will join the list of Bollywood stars who starred in English language films with her soon to be released movie, The Buckingham Murders. In the Hindi/English UK-set crime drama, due for release on September 13, she plays a troubled British Asian detective assigned to solve the murder of a child.

Eastern Eye looks at 10 Bollywood stars who successfully made a mark in English language cinema across the decades.

Shashi Kapoor: The first major Bollywood star to venture into English language cinema in a meaningful way was Shashi Kapoor, when he headlined India-set drama, The Householder (1963). The film’s success enabled him to balance a thriving Hindi cinema career with projects in the west that included Shakespeare Wallah (1965), Pretty Polly (1967), Bombay Talkie (1970), Heat and Dust (1983), The Deceivers (1988) and Side Streets (1998).

Kabir Bedi: The actor broke significant ground for the Bollywood brigade on the international stage with high-profile projects The Thief Of Baghdad (1978), Ashanti (1979), The Archer: Fugitive From The Empire (1981), Satan’s Mistress (1982) and The Beast (1988). But his most significant role was as the henchman, Gobinda, in hit James Bond movie Octopussy (1983). Bedi would also break ground on television with roles in hit serials like Knight Rider, Dynasty, Magnum PI and Murder, She Wrote.

Shabana Azmi: After establishing herself as a multi-award winning star in commercial Hindi cinema, the actress took on English language projects that further cemented her legacy. These films included Madame Sousatzka (1988), City of Joy (1992), Immaculate Conception (1992), Son of the Pink Panther (1993) and Fire (1996). She has also appeared in multiple TV projects that includes high profile sci-fi series Halo.

Om Puri: The talented Indian actor was perhaps the most successful Bollywood star in international cinema. His incredible work included Gandhi (1982), City of Joy (1992), Wolf (1994), My Son The Fanatic (1997), East Is East (1999), The Parole Officer (2001), Code 46 (2003), Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), West Is West (2010), The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) and The Trafficker (2015).

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan: The Bollywood star gained international attention after winning red carpet appearances at the Cannes Film Festival. This led her towards acting in multiple English language projects such as Bride and Prejudice (2004), Mistress of Spices (2005), Provoked (2006), The Last Legion (2007) and The Pink Panther 2 (2009). Rai would have starred in more projects had she not turned down prized roles such as Hitch (2005), opposite Will Smith.

Anupam Kher: The prolific actor has appeared in more than 500 films, including major international projects. The most successful were Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004), Breakaway (2011), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), A Family Man (2016), The Big Sick (2017), The Boy With The Topknot (2017) and Hotel Mumbai (2018). He has also appeared in multiple international TV serials, including a lead role in hit medical drama New Amsterdam.

Irrfan Khan: The late actor showed off his remarkable range in global successes like The Namesake (2006), A Mighty Heart (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Life Of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016). The versatile performer also headlined the underrated gem of a movie, Puzzle (2018). He turned down a significant number of other projects and was being lined up for more projects before his premature death in 2020.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas: The A-list actress made the move to Hollywood with action thriller series Quantico in 2015 and followed it up with roles on the big screen. Chopra Jonas has starred in Baywatch (2017), A Kid Like Jake (2018), Isn’t It Romantic (2019), We Can Be Heroes (2020), The Matrix Resurrections (2021) and Love Again (2023). She also executive produced and starred in The White Tiger (2021), which was filmed in English and Hindi. The actress also played a lead role in mega-budget serial, Citadel.

Ali Fazal: By auditioning for international roles, the Indian actor has shown that talent can take you places. He followed up a cameo appearance in Fast & Furious 7 (2015) with a lead role opposite Judi Dench in Victoria & Abdul (2017). He had significant roles in Death On The Nile (2022) and Kandahar (2023), where he played the main antagonist opposite Gerard Butler.

Deepika Padukone: The actress starred with Vin Diesel in action adventure XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and showed that a Bollywood leading lady could headline a major Hollywood movie.

An honourable mention also to Alia Bhatt for her key role in Heart Of Stone (2023) and Dimple Kapadia for lighting up mega-budget movie Tenet (2020).