Did You Know That These Famous Celebs Changed Their Names For Bollywood?

It is one’s name which creates their identity and introduces them to people. Shakespeare might have said ‘What’s in a name’, but for Bollywood celebrities, it is their name which builds their fame. It is one’s name which earns them the popularity and recognition in showbiz. Have you ever wondered whether these stars would have been this famous, if their name was something else? Read on to know about the eminent personalities from B-Town who changed their name for the industry. 

Shilpa Shetty 

Image Courtesy: Shilpa Shetty's Instagram

The fitness enthusiast cum actor, Shilpa Shetty was originally named Ashwini Shetty, when she was born. Later, her mom Sunanda Shetty, who is also an astrologer changed her name. Shilpa’s name got changed in the 90s because her mom predicted that it would carry better prospects for her daughter, according to numerology. 

Rekha 

Bhanurekha Ganesan was the original name of Rekha, which was given by her father, Gemini Ganesan. The actress later shortened it to just ‘Rekha’ after making her appearance in Bollywood. 

Akshay Kumar

Image Courtesy: Akshay Kumar's Instagram

Bollywood’s Khiladi’s real name was actually ‘Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia’, which later got changed to Akshay Kumar. The star is quite open about it and even shared the impulsive incident, which led to the change. He was very inspired by Kumar Gaurav’s character, Akshay, in Mahesh Bhatt’s movie ‘Aaj’. “I would only observe Gaurav and his acting. I don’t know what happened but one day I just went to the court and got my name changed”, Akshay once told the press.

Sunny Deol

Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol, both followed their father’s footsteps and changed their names before entering Bollywood. While Sunny’s original name was Ajay Singh Deol, Bobby’s real name was Vijay Singh Deol. Their father, Dharamendra Singh modified his own name, aftering dropping the actual name, Dharam Singh Deol. 

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Amitabh Bachchan

Image Courtesy: Amitabh Bachchan's Instagram

Inquilaab Srivastava, that is what the real name of Amitabh Bachchan was. The name itself sounds like that of a freedom fighter or a poet. It was actually the famous Indian poet Sumitranandan Pant, who suggested the name ‘Amitabh’ to the actor’s father. Harivansh Rai, who used ‘Bachchan’ as his pen-name, then gave the name Amitabh Bachchan to his son. 

Katrina Kaif

The half-British, half-Indian actress was named Katrina Turquotte by her mother, Susanne Turquotte. When she moved to India, Katrina adopted her father’s surname Kaif, who is a British businessman of Kashmiri descent.

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Kiara Advani

Image Courtesy: Kiara Advani's Instagram

Did you know Salman Khan suggested Kiara to change her name? The actress was originally named Alia Advani. It was Salman Khan who recommended her to change her name for better recognition, as Alia Bhatt was already a famous name in Bollywood by then. Later, the actress switched her name to Kiara Advani. 

Ajay DevGn

Ajay’s real name was Vishal Devgan, which was changed during his early years. He later changed the spelling of his surname from ‘Devgan’ to ‘DevGn’ because of numerology. 

Tiger Shroff

Image Courtesy: Tiger Shroff's Instagram

The always grooving actor, Tiger Shroff, was born with the name Jai Hemant Shroff. His father Jackie Shroff, once revealed that he named his son so, because he would bite like a tiger when he was just a kid. Tiger carried the same name to Bollywood and soon became the dancing sensation of the industry. 

Saif Ali Khan

The Nawab of the Pautadi family was originally named Sajid Ali Khan. He later switched his name and earned fame in the industry as Saif Ali Khan. 

Be it their original or new name, all these stars have entertained us to the core with their talent, every time they came on the big screen. 

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