1. Farhan Akhtar
He first made his mark in Bollywood as a director of such exceptional films as Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, and Don: The Chase Begins Again. Farhan then decided to try acting and made his debut in the brilliant film Rock On!!. Not only did he portray Aditya Shroff, lead singer of Magik, he also literally was the lead singer, singing all of the songs for the soundtrack. He was pitch perfect as an actor and a singer! He gave a real depth to the role, and his performance was praised by critics with words like phenomenal, revelation, and superb! We will next see him in Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance releasing on January 30th, and from the promos it looks like he is going to bat this one out of the park as well. We know we can’t wait to see all of his films in the future, whether he is in front of or behind the camera, and are sure audiences will agree!
There is one film that we all wish we could have included on most of our lists, but since it is not a Bollywood film we felt we had to leave it out. However, you will see it pop up as a special mention on several of the lists and this is the first one we felt we had to add it to. A special mention must be given to Dev Patel’s amazing debut and outstanding performance as Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire – he has been nominated for a Screen Actor’s Guild Award! This is one actor to keep your eye on because he is going to go very far!
There you have our picks of the 10 Plus One Best Newcomers of 2008! Each of these fine actors and actresses brought something special to the roles they portrayed, and we look forward to enjoying the next character they choose to entertain us with. We can’t wait to see them all!!
