Year-ender 2017: 10 debut performances that sank without a trace

Mumbai: No Bollywood actor enjoyed success, popularity and fan following overnight, and the fact of the matter is that they were all just debutants before they became stars.

Some of them started with a bang, carried forward the momentum, while some saw their career going downhill.

Many of them debuted with a debacle and were written off, but some still managed to rise from the ashes.

Here we take a look at the debut performances this year that sank without a trace, and while most of them have been written off, we do hope that’s not how their career unfolds in the end.

Kanan Gill – Noor

Unlike Kapil Sharma, who made a successful debut on the big screen, this stand-up comedian could not make it big on the big screen. Kanan’s debut was much talked before the release, but he failed to create an impact and the Sonakshi Sinha starrer was among the biggest flops of the year.

Zhu Zhu – Tubelight

Not many actresses get the opportunity to make their debut opposite Salman Khan. However, it was a case of wrong place at the wrong time for Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. Before the release of the film, she was very much a part of the news, with people digging up her bikini pictures and making it go viral. Zhu Zhu, however, went almost unnoticed in Salman’s first debacle in several years.

Nidhhi Agerwal - Munna Michael

Nidhhi Agerwal was poor in her debut despite getting the opportunity to star opposite Tiger Shroff, and do everything that a Bollywood actress conventionally is expected to do. The actress was supposed to be an eye-candy, which she failed at becoming and despite getting the opportunity to dance and romance, she couldn’t leave a mark. Well, with even Nawazuddin Siddiqui being panned for this film, her performance is hardly a surprise.

Aadar Jain – Qaidi Band

After launching Arjun Kapoor in ‘Ishaqzaade’, Yash Raj Films launched a male lead after five years and he was yet again a son from a famous film family, Aadar Jain, Ranbir and Kareena Kapoor’s cousin. Aadar received mixed reviews for his act in this prison-based musical drama, but the film was a huge debacle at the box office.

Anya Singh – Qaidi Band

Like Aadar, Anya Singh was also the first female face being launched by the production house after Vaani Kapoor in ‘Shudh Desi Romance’ in 2013. She got both appreciation and criticism in equal measure, and it is unlikely that she could carry on the so-called legacy of Anushka Sharma or Vaani, for that matter, for the production house.

Mustafa Burmawalla – Machine

While the talk of nepotism has been doing the rounds suddenly, surprisingly very few of the recent stars were launched by their home banners, be it Varun Dhawan, Arjun Kapoor, Alia Bhatt or Jahnvi Kapoor. Mustafa Burmawalla helps us understand the true meaning of nepotism. Son of Abbas, one half of the famous Abbas-Mustan director duo, was launched by them in one of their typical action thrillers. Mustafa looked decent, was not that bad at action or dance, but still nothing worked for him, as the film failed miserably at the box office and was panned by the critics. Not everyone is Hrithik Roshan you know.

Mahira Khan – Raees

This popular Pakistani actress was announced as Shah Rukh Khan’s leading lady in the masala film with a lot of fanfare. She would have hogged the limelight, had it not been for the crumbling of Indo-Pak ties following the attacks in Uri last year. She couldn’t thus come to India to promote the film, with SRK having to assure MNS chief Raj Thackeray to thwart any political interference to the film because of her presence. She hardly got any attention for her performance, but did make news for being spotted with Ranbir Kapoor in New York few months ago.

Shiv Darshan - Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha

Suneel Darshan, known for launching Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta in 'Andaaz', and several other Akshay Kumar starrers like 'Dosti: Friends Forever', 'Ek Rishtaa' among others, also decided to launch his son Shiv in a film written and directed by him. The fact that you might not have even heard of the film says it all about Shiv Darshan or his debut.

Padmapriya - Chef

This Malayalam actress got added to the growing list of actresses from South who could not make it big in Bollywood. With the film being set in Kerala, Padmapriya was a natural in her performance, but it’s unlikely she would get more offers here due to the dismal box office performance of the Saif Ali Khan starrer.

Raai Laxmi - Julie 2

It wouldn’t be wrong to call Raai Laxmi, a veteran of the South film industry with multiple films in her kitty. After an extended cameo in the Sonakshi Sinha starrer ‘Akira’, the actress made her grand Bollywood debut with the sequel of ‘Julie.’ Be it sacked censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani joining film as producer, controversies by hinting at the story being based on Nagma or multiple changes in release dates, nothing could save this film from being a disaster. While Raai Laxmi’s acting, skin show or sex scenes hardly got spoken of, the only notable thing the film did was remind the audience that she was once reportedly a girlfriend of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a fact which journalists kept asking her about this time around.