Take 2

Alia Bhatt: For the first time in a long time, Bollywood has delivered a debutante who actually looks like a teenager. Bhatt has the perfect face for the petulant, flirty romcom heroine and she rocks blood-red lipstick to boot. Cherry-picked by Karan Johar for Student of the Year, her next film is Imtiaz Ali’s Highway, with Randeep Hooda. She’s also slated to play the lead in Dharma Productions’ 2 States, based on the best-selling novel by Indian novellist Chetan Bhagat. Not bad for a 19-year-old, even if she’s Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter.

Arjun Kapoor: In Ishaqzaade, he was loutish, unkempt, trigger-happy and a cheating so-and-so. The girls loved him. His second film is Gunday and he plays — surprise, surprise — a mafia lad. Kapoor will then be in the film adaptation of Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States, where he will play a headstrong Punjabi. The question is not whether Arjun Kapoor can play the regular hero, but rather: Do we want him to go down the regular route?

Ayushmann Khurrana: Playing an unemployed sperm donor is not a proposition many aspiring actors might have gone for, but Khurrana’s judgment (or desperation) made him the star of last year’s mostsparkling comedy, the sleeper hit Vicky Donor. It’s landed him three more films: Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala!, Yashraj’s yet untitled project with Sonam Kapoor and John Abraham’s next production, Hamara Bajaj. Khurrana may not have conventional good looks, but it’s his boy-next-door image that is taking him places.

Diana Penty: It can’t be easy holding your own asa wallflower opposite a flamboyant Saif Ali Khan and a sexed-up Deepika Padukone, but Diana Penty managed to, in Cocktail. She has an easy, natural style and a malleable face and figure, and she looks good in Western as well as Indian clothes. What’s there not to like about Penty? The grapevine has it that she’s scheduled to romance Salman Khan next. All she needs now is the determination to stay on course.

Esha Gupta: She looks like Angelina Jolie, shecan pout almost as well as the Hollywood actress and she’s smokin’ hot — even dressed down in a police uniform. She had three movies last year — Jannat 2, Raaz 3 and Chakravyuh. The first two did well, and the third got her noticed in a different avatar. She’s contracted to do one more film for Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films and there are more in the offing. Gupta says she’s here to work, and it looks like she means it.

Evelyn Sharma: Her full name is Evelyn Lakshmi Sharma, she is an Indo-German actress, she speaks eight languages and her main claim to fame is that she had signed five — yes five — films before her debut in last year’s From Sydney With Love. That came and went without a trace, but Sharma now has roles in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Nautanki Saala!. The first is a romcom with Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead, the second is a romcom too, with Ayushmann Khuranna and Kunaal Roy Kapoor. The two movies are top rung (even if Sharma’s roles may not be) and her PR machine has labelled her the hottest Bollywood import since Katrina Kaif. We’ll know soon enough.

Huma Qureshi: This woman has worked her way up diligently. First, she did theatre in Delhi, then ads, then she appeared in an item number in a Hollywood production, then she did a short film and finally that terrific, sultry role in Gangs of Wasseypur. As the feisty Mohsina, she seduced us with her pout and cheeky aviators. She followed it up with the breezy Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and is currently filming Ekta Kapoor’s Ek Thi Daayan opposite Emraan Hashmi. Though her family runs the Saleem’s chain of restaurants in Delhi, Qureshi’s tastes clearlylie elsewhere.

Nargis Fakhri: There were times when her beestung lips seemed to fill the screen in Rockstar. Her acting (what? where?) is best not talked about. But Fakhri has made Mumbai her base camp, is good friends with Yashraj scion Uday Chopra and has bagged Madras Café, where she will star opposite John Abraham and be directed by Shoojit Sircar, who’s coming off the super success of Vicky Donor. Miracles do happen.

Siddharth Malhotra: No newcomer has been morelovingly shot and presented than Malhotra was in Student of the Year. His six-pack and mushy smile (always a powerful combination) had girls and guys drooling alike. Now there’s talk of a film deal with Ekta Kapoor and another film with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Actors have been known to coast on their six-packs — John Abraham is still around, after all — but this debutant will hopefully soon show that he can act as well.

Sunny Leone: What hope did a porn star have in hyper-conservative, ultra-hypocritical India where opportunistic hardliners and political organisations alike would jump at the chance to protest against her? To everyone’s surprise, it was one smart move. After her stint on the realityshow Bigg Boss, Leone bagged the lead in a hit movie, Jism 2, and is now on to her next — Ekta Kapoor’s , the sequel to the original horror flick. Expect lots of writhing and loud gasps (both of which Leone is a pro at) plus other bonuses. Warning: she has now pitched her tent in B-town along with husband Daniel Weber — meaning she’s here for the long haul.

Tigmanshu Dhulia: As if directing last year’s best film, Paan Singh Tomar, wasn’t enough of a high to ride on, Dhulia showed he can act too, playing Ramadhir Singh, the villain in Gangs of Wasseypur. He does have a diploma in acting from Delhi’s National School of Drama, after all. He might have done the role as a favour for his friend Anurag Kashyap, but he clearly enjoyed himself. Which means we can hope to see more of him. And how difficult can it be for a directorto cast himself?

Varun Dhawan: By popular consensus, Dhawan was the most promising of the lot in Student of the Year. His father is David Dhawan and his brother Rohit will direct him in his next film. Dhawan has an appealingly natural manner, which, along with the mandatory six-pack, should get him many more films.

Poonam Pandey: Sunny Leone, you got desi competition. Pandey is hot on your stiletto heels with what she describes as a “classy” adult film, titled Nasha. Her director is, piquantly, Amit Saxena, who directed Jism. Now, Pandey is someone who keeps her word — sort of. She may not have stripped as promised when India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup, but she did do so for Shah Rukh Khan when the Kolkata Knight Riders won their first IPL trophy. She’s got the guts, she’s got the bod and the ’tude. Now let’s see her acting chops — if anyone’s interested, that is.