With catchy and memorable songs that marked the entry of the latest Bollywood debutante, the bar of debut performances in Bollywood was remarkably different from the ones today. There is a rampant wave in the Hindi film industry of the next generation of actors that has witnessed an influx of ‘star kids’ joining the industry and making their debuts, from Ananya Panday to more recently, Ibrahim Ali Khan.
But long gone are the days when a ‘Kukkad’ 6-foot, leather-jacketed Abhimanyu Singh made his entry in St. Theresa’s college with the sound of hens clucking or the angelic Shantipriya graced the red carpet in her quintessential pink outfit to “Ajab Si”.
Bollywood Debut Actors Now and What Has Changed?
Even today after around ten or twenty years, debut performances of some of the most talented and successful actors in the industry are still imprinted on our minds, with a much stronger recall value. Moreover, debut performances from yesteryears were also accompanied by songs that marked the fresh face’s entry, causing viewers to immediately associate Deepika Padukone with “Ajab Si” or even Ranbir Kapoor with his towel in “Jab Se Tere Naina”. Debut performances had a distinct identity, with the characters having a unique personality and an original song to remember them by.
However, ever since the pandemic and the exponential rise of OTT platforms, there seems to have been a shift in the nature of Bollywood debuts today. Films like The Archies (2023) and Nadaaniyan (2025) serve a variety of star kids’ names like a buffet — you can pick and choose who you like and try to guess which kid is a product of which celebrity in the industry. A film like The Archies catapults faces like Suhana Khan (Shahrukh Khan’s daughter), Khushi Kapoor (late Sridevi and Boney Kapoor’s younger daughter), and so far as Agastya Nanda (Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson) to fame and infamy both. The number of star kids making their debuts in the industry is so much so that long lists are being made of “X star kids debuting in X year”.
The Future of Bollywood
That being said, Bollywood debuts are not solely restricted to star kids, with performances like those by Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta in Laapata Ladies (2024) being honoured by the recently concluded IIFA Awards. Other performances like those by debutante Lakshya in action-thriller Kill were also some of the awardees. Bollywood occasionally launches a new actor who has made their way through television or other acting gigs from small towns. Examples of this are Fatimah Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra in Dangal (2016) and the awardees at IIFA this year.
While it felt like a breath of fresh air to see actors who are not star kids grab the accolades for ‘Best Debut Performances’, both male and female, such talent is few and middling. They might not gain as much traction with the public when compared to the debut performances of say, Ibrahim Ali Khan, the latter is still dragged on social media for his mediocre acting performance, but still gains popularity as a result nonetheless. In addition to even more star kids like Shanaya Kapoor making her debut, social media enigmas like Orry have also been seen appearing in films (in Nadaaniyan), making the public question and raising concern about the future of Bollywood.
For the film industry’s future’s sake, more actors from diverse backgrounds need to be given their due recognition (more than just being given awards, the public needs to support their artistry by watching and engaging with their filmography) and must continue to star in meaningful films. While I do not mean to completely dismiss the launch of star kids as long as they have merit and talent, space must also be made for another unforgettable debut (one we haven’t witnessed in almost five years) that becomes the talk of the town!