Overnight famous stars in Bollywood. Where are they now?

Here’s an unfortunate disclaimer—despite common belief, there is no such thing as overnight success in Bollywood. All success comes after hard work and that certainly applies to the film industry. However, the concept of an “overnight success” can be attributed to those who entered Bollywood within a relatively short amount of time, kissed the feet of success in the first bat within their field.

Do you remember any hit film of Tushar Kapoor or Asin or Bhumika Chawla? Not exactly right? Well it is obvious as these and many such celebrities who entered the industry with a bang and disappeared from the industry even faster. While their 15 minutes of fame ended with the last scene of their last movie, their names surely made it to the gracious list of not-so-super-hit celebrities.

Let’s take a bow and remember these Bollywood celebrities who gave one hit or acted in one film and bagged their names forever in the industry-

Kumar Gaurav

Always the first name in any such list, Kumar Gaurav is the prime example of how one film can change your life, for better or for worse. Debuting at the age of 21 in the super hit 1970 romantic comedy Love Story, Kumar became the overnight sensation along with his co-star Vijeyta Pandit.

However, soon after the starry frizz ended, his filmy career tanked owing to not-so-right choices. He was seen in many movies after Love Story but none of the movies could establish him. He was last seen in My Daddy Strongest in 2009.

Bhagyashree

It’s been 25 years since Maine Pyaar Kiya released and it still feels like yesterday. We all remember the suit-clad soft-spoken Suman, who taught the girls of her time everything there is to know about grace.

Maine Pyar Kiya, the debut film of this actress released in 1989, is still remembered as one of the best love stories Bollywood has made. Her pairing with Salman Khan and the way she spoke with her smile and eyes made her a favorite among the Indian homes.

However, while Salman Khan went on to rule the Indian film industry after Maine Pyar Kiya, Bhagyashree’s luck did not favor her and she went into oblivion after some unsuccessful films.

She made a comeback in 2006 and is now seen in the television serial Laut Aao Trisha.

Rahul Roy

The Delhi-born actor gained immense stardom after the success of his romantic musical Aashiqui in 1990. Although his career was not doomed soon after Aashiqui, and he did some good performances in the movies that followed, none of the films that followed could match its success.

He was next seen in a psycho-thriller movie called To B or Not to B, which was released in September 2014.

From fame to failure, his stay in Bollywood was as short as a Bollywood movie itself.

Anu Agarwal

If there is someone who can understand the pain of Rahul Roy, it has to be Anu Aggarwal, his co-star in Aashiqui. Anu, who became the favorite of Indian men after the success of Aashiqui, soon disappeared from the scene.

Some years later, she had a near-fatal car accident that left her comatose for a month. After her coma, she dealt with partial paralysis and found her true calling in Yoga.

Anu practices Holistic Yoga in Munger, Bihar, and plans to write an autobiography. Not too media-friendly, nothing much is known about her life, in big screen at present.

Gracy Singh

Though not a debut, Lagaan was the first film in which Gracy Singh had a prominent role of Gauri, the love interest of the male lead played by Aamir Khan. India’s official entry for Oscars, Lagaan was just what Gracy would have wanted after two blink-and-miss performances in Hu Tu Tu and Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain.

However, Gracy’s career never took the shape that she would have wanted, and after a handful of forgettable performances in male-dominated movies, she moved to the south.

Overnight success departs overnight too. There are inspirational stories of ‘fight-fall-fight-again’, where success was achieved the harder way, but stayed forever. Did you know that Bollywood superstar Rajiv Bhatia aka Akshay kumar served as a waiter once? Did you know the star icon of South Indian film (and also Bollywood), Rajnikanth, for whom any tributes would fall short, struggled a long way to grab the fame he holds dear today.

Not that the overnight wonders are to be blamed. Truth is, in painstakingly competitive world today, even if someone does become an overnight success, chances are, the person will fade into oblivion eventually.

Bollywood is full of such examples that boast of overnight successes, but actually are a one-film-wonder; the above mentioned to name a few.