Have you ever wondered there is this beautiful versatile actress named Bhanurekha Ganesan? No!!! Well, let me tell you that this is no one but our most beloved and popular actress Rekha Ji. Yes, Bhanurekha Ganesan is her real name and, Rekha is her screen name which she took to appear on the reel. Like writers write under a pen name or pseudonym, artists(actors & actresses) also take a stage name or screen name. You will be surprised to know the real names of Bollywood actors whom you have been watching from decades and know everything about them(thanks to media and paparazzi) but still don’t know their real names.

The reason behind choosing the screen name is that it should be memorable, unique(in the industry), to gain popularity and in some case because of the Luck factor. And in many cases, it really worked. Can you think of Shahanshah of Bollywood is Inquilaab Shrivastava or Bhai of Bollywood as Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan(Ahh!! that’s too long)? Well, there are many actors and actresses from Dilip Kumar Ji to BigB to Akshay Kumar whose real name are not known to their fans.

Here, we have the real names of Bollywood actors for you:

1. Muhammed Yusuf Khan (Dilip Kumar)

The man who is unanimously loved by all people. Dilip Kumar Ji is the man with the most realistic acting and the only living legend of Bollywood’s classic age.

Image Source – https://indianexpress.com/

2. Preetam Singh Zinta (Preity Zinta)

The dimple girl of Bollywood who has won many hearts with her most beautiful smile is Preetam Singh Zinta.

Image Source – https://indianexpress.com/

3. Jai Hemant Shroff (Tiger Shroff)

If Tiger would have been in the ’50s or ’60s, this name could have been considered but now?! Well, it’s good we know his as Tiger Shroff.

Image Source – https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/

4. Katrina Turquotte (Katrina Kaif)

Katrina was born to Suzanne Turquotte, a British citizen. However, after the separation of her parents, she lived with her mom. Kaif is the second name she got from dad. Well, it’s good because Kaif suits her more!!!

Image Source – https://www.liberaldictionary.com/

5. Inquilaab Srivastava (Amitabh Bachchan)

Amitabh means the one whose light never goes away or amit(can’t be vanished), abh(light). All credit goes to Sumitranandan Pant Ji for this.

Image Source – https://www.sirfnews.com/

6. Harihar Jethalal Jariwala (Sanjeev Kumar)

Thank God!!! Sanjeev couldn’t have been this much popular with Harihar Jethalal Jariwala. Doubtlessly it is a cute Gujrati name but quite difficult to remember.

Image Source – https://consent.yahoo.com/

Also Read: Best Bollywood Actors

7. Ajay Singh Deol (Sunny Deol)

Well, no doubt that he would still be that angry young man whose dhaai kilo ka haath is enough to give chills in the spine.

Image Source – https://www.thebridalbox.com/

8. Sajid Ali Khan (Saif Ali Khan)

Belonging from the very famous Pataudi family and related to the Tagore family is enough to be known well. But still, Saif wanted it his way.

Image Source – https://www.dnaindia.com/

9. Ritu Chaudhry (Mahima Chaudhry)

She’s a sort of veteran actress who still looks stunning! Mahima has left Bollywood long back but is active on social media.

Image Source – https://www.bizasialive.com/

Also Read: All Bigg Boss Winners

10. Govind Arun Ahuja (Govinda)

The one who made us laugh with his acting in Partner and Raja Babu is the all-time favourite, Govinda.

Image Source – https://www.dnaindia.com/

11. Tabassum Hashmi (Tabu)

One of the popular actresses whose acting carries versatility is Ms. Tabassum Hashmi.

Image Source – https://www.dnaindia.com/

12. Suyash Sharad Pandey (Chunky Pandey)

Done more than 80 films and loved for his comic roles, Chunky Pandey suits more.

Image Source – https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/

13. Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (Akshay Kumar)

Thank God Khiladi Kumar and hubby of Twinkle Khanna is Akshay Kumar because his real name is quite long.

Image Source – https://www.theweek.in/

14. Govardhan Asrani (Asrani)

In his career of over 5 decades. he is making us smile (laughhhh!!!) with his funny roles. Asrani is well known by his second name.

Image Source – https://hindi.thequint.com/

15. Shahid Khattar (Shahid Kapoor)

Kapoor suits to the Kabir Singh actor more than Khattar. Even his fans agree with that.

Image Source – https://www.ecopetit.cat/

16. Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand (Dev Anand)

A big thank to Dev Ji as he changed his name to Dev Anand as his real name would need more than 10 recitations to keep in mind.

Image Source – https://www.addatoday.com/

17. Reema Lamba (Mallika Sherawat)

Welcome, and Murder actress was born as Reema Lamba, Mallika took the maiden’s(second) name of her mom.

Image Source – https://varnam.my/

18. Ashwini Shetty (Shilpa Shetty)

Model, actress, businesswoman, Mrs Kundra and now a mom, Shilpa got name, fame and love with her new name.

Image Source – https://www.jattdisite.com/

19. John Prakasa Rao Janumala (Johnny Lever)

This name was given to John Prakasa Rao Janumala by the workers at Hindustan Lever Ltd after a function in which he entertained people with his mimicry.

Image Source – https://www.marketingmind.in/

20. Begum Mumtaz Jehan Dehlavi (Madhubala)

Started working as a child artist, she was called as baby Mumtaz. But she was later named Madhubala. The name that represents the Venus goddess of Indian cinema and the beauty whose life wasn’t a fairytale but she was no less than a fairy.

Image Source – https://www.fashionlady.in/

21. Hrithik Rakesh Nagrath (Hrithik Roshan)

Okay, The Krrish actor couldn’t have been this much known with his actual name. So, it was a good idea to change the name.

Image Source – https://www.telugulives.com/

22. Vishal Veeru Devgan (Ajay Devgan)

Ajay Devgan was born as Vishal Veeru Devgan but it was a good idea to take the name Ajay, right?!

Image Source – https://www.liputan6.com/

23. Shivaji Rao Gaekwad (Rajinikanth)

The south superstar and Thalaiva, Rajinikanth is the love of his fans. His excellent acting career is still an inspiration to aspiring actors.

Image Source – https://indianexpress.com/

24. Sunil Sikanderlal Kapoor (Shakti Kapoor)

Okay, he was carrying the legacy of Kapoor family but his name Shakti doubtlessly earned him popularity.

Image Source – https://indianexpress.com/

Also Read: Best Female YouTubers in India

25. Gouranga Chakraborty (Mithun Chakraborty)

Gauranga is a sweet name but Dada is famous with his name Mithun Chakraborty.

Image Source – https://www.theweek.in/

26. Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan (Sridevi)

We must thank the person who suggested Sridevi take the name Sridevi because her real name was really long and quite hard to keep in mind.

Image Source – https://www.telugu360.com/

27. Gopal Bedi (Ranjeet)

The most villainous character of Bollywood(only in movies) was born as Gopal Bedi.

Image Source – https://www.scoopwhoop.com/

28. Jatin Khanna (Rajesh Khanna)

The first superstar and the Amar Prem actor, Jatin or Rajesh, he is still in the heart of his fans.

Image Source – https://www.mensxp.com/

29. Ravi Kapoor (Jeetendra)

Actor, director, producer Jeetendra is one of the best actors in Bollywood. Ekta Kapoor(yes, that MIL-DIL drama) and Tushar Kapoor are his kids.

Image Source – https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

30. Farhan Abraham (John Abraham)

Well, John suits more. Farhan is too common and we already have Farhan Akhtar.

Image Source – https://en.janbharattimes.com/

Some more real names of Bollywood Actors and Actresses

• Karenjit Kaur Vohra (Sunny Leone)

• Dharam Singh Deol (Dharmendra)

• Alia Advani (Kiara Advani)

• Shivaji Rao Gaekwad (Rajnikanth)

• Zulfiqar Ali Shah Khan (Feroz Khan)

• Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (Aamir Khan)

• Kartik Tiwari (Kartik Aaryan)

• Sweety Shetty (Anushka Shetty)

• Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju (Prabhas)

• Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone (Guru Dutt)

These are the real names of Bollywood actors who gained huge fan following and popularity with their screen/stage name.

Hope you liked it and from the next time you are watching their movies or interacting with their social media profiles, don’t forget to recall their real names.

If you have any suggestions or you know a bit more about your favourite actor/actresses real name that is missing here, tell us in comments. We would love to know that.

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