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Ajay Devgn to Salman Khan: Before Akshay Kumar, these Bollywood heroes made their Telugu debut

ByMahima Pandey
Apr 09, 2024 06:05 PM IST

As we eagerly wait for Akshay Kumar’s upcoming film Kannappa, here’s a list of Bollywood actors who won hearts with their debut in Tollywood

Akshay Kumar is not only a Bollywood actor, but the OG Khiladi of Indian cinema. Apart from making a mark with his work in Hindi films, he has done projects in Tamil, Marathi and Punjabi industries as well. The beloved hero is now ready to make his Telugu debut with Vishnu Manchu’s upcoming film Kannappa. The fantasy drama also features Mohanlal and Prabhas in special cameos. Well, as we wait to see Kumar in his first ever Telugu film, here’s a list of other Bollywood heroes who made waves with their South debut.

Bollywood actors who debuted in South films
Bollywood actors who debuted in South films

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjuna in Manam
Amitabh Bachchan and Nagarjuna in Manam

Bollywood’s Shahenshah Amitabh Bachchan made a special cameo appearance in the 2014 Telugu film Manam, which was produced by the Akkineni Family. He played the role of a hospital’s chairman, who gets a call from Nagarjuna. The fantasy drama film also stars Nagarjuna’s late father Akkineni Nageswara Rao and his son Naga Chaitanya along with Samantha

Salman Khan

Salman Khan and Chiranjeevi on the sets of Godfather
Salman Khan and Chiranjeevi on the sets of Godfather

2022 was a year of memorable cameos, and one of them was by Bollywood’s Bhaijaan Salman Khan. The superstar joined megastar Chiranjeevi as his right-hand man in Telugu political action thriller Godfather. Their scenes together left us wanting more and were no less than a visual treat for fans

Ajay Devgn

Ajay Devgn and SS Rajamouli on RRR sets
Ajay Devgn and SS Rajamouli on RRR sets

In SS Rajamouli’s 2022 masterpiece RRR, Ajay Devgn portrayed the role of Ram Charan’s onscreen father Alluri Venkatarama Raju. In the extended cameo the actor proved that his allotted screen time in any project will never affect his impactful performance. Devgn won hearts with his incredible work

Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh in Adipurush
Saif Ali Khan as Lankesh in Adipurush

As we already know, Jr NTR’s upcoming film Devara will mark Saif Ali Khan’s full fledged Telugu debut. However, the Bollywood hero’s first South film was Prabhas-starrer Adipurush (2023), which was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. Khan portrayed the role of Lankesh in this film, which is based on Ramayana

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Saindhav
Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Saindhav

Earlier this year, the versatile Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his debut in Tollywood with Venkatesh Daggubati-starrer Saindhav. He left a deep impression on the audience as a psychotic, ruthless gangster named Vikas Malik. Siddiqui’s performance was one of the major highlights of this action thriller

Which of these Tollywood debuts managed to impress you?

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