Did you know Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh and many other top Bollywood actors were earlier told they were not good looking enough to become stars?

Bollywood actors who were once called ‘ugly’: From Anushka Sharma and Vidya Balan to Shah Rukh Khan and Ranveer Singh, let’s have a look at what these actors said about the comments that were made on their looks.

Anushka Sharma:

Anushka was told by YRF head Aditya Chopra that she was a talented actor but, she wasn't the most good looking. In an earlier appearance on Koffee with Karan, Anushka recalled the incident and shared Aditya’s words, “He said I have a lot of belief in your talent and I think you are a very talented actress, but I don’t think you are very good looking. You’re not the most good-looking girl, so you have to make sure that you work really hard.”

Ranveer Singh

The actor also recalled Aditya Chopra’s ‘reality check’ about his looks. Ranveer told Bollywood Hungama in 2022, “I used to think that I am good looking, but then Adi sir gave me a reality check at the beginning of my career. He was like, ‘You are good looking but not in a conventional way. You are not Hrithik Roshan, so better you act well.'”

Shah Rukh Khan:

The Khan came into the limelight when he played antagonist or anti-hero avatars in Baazigar and Darr. He once revealed that a director referred to him as ordinary and ugly. He said, “There’s a wonderful director friend of mine, and he met me, and he said, ‘You are so ordinary and ugly looking’. Yeah, he told me on my face..."

Vidya Balan

The actress also recalled the time when a producer made her feel ugly after replacing her in a film. In a 2022 interview with Prabhat Khabar, Vidya said, "I was kicked out of 13 films. When one producer replaced me in a film, their behaviour with me was very bad. They made me feel so ugly that for six months, I could not gather the courage to look at myself in the mirror."

Rajkummar Rao:

Rajkummar once said he didn’t get lead role roles due to looks. Rajkummar told Indian Today in 2022, “There was a time when I would never get to audition for hero’s role. I was told to audition for his friend’s role. I know I am not the most good-looking man in the room..."

Taapsee Pannu:

In a 2021 interview with Cosmopolitan India, Taapsee Pannu talked about her understanding of beauty. “It was the opposite of everything I was. I didn’t have those big ‘doe eyes’; I didn’t have an elegant, small nose… I had this large, ‘royal nose’, as people call it. I didn’t have luscious lips or straight, silky hair — you know, the kind that actresses flipped around. I had curly hair, and I remember noticing that none of the actresses on television had hair that looked like mine.”