• Preity Zinta Besides her acting, Preity Zinta has also written a series of columns for BBC News Online of South Asia.
     

    Preity Zinta
  • Actor Emraan Hashmi used the screen name Farhaan Hashmi for a few months in the early part of his career. He went back to using Emraan Hashmi a short while later.

    Bollywood Emraan Hashmi
  • Aishwarya's first ever commercial was for Camlin pencils while in 9th grade.

    Bollywood
  • Dharmendra’s fee when he debuted in 1960 in the movie ‘Dil Bhi Tera Hum Bhi Tere’ was a meager 51 rupees.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Hrithik Roshan was catapulted overnight to instant superstardom with debut hit film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000).

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Dharmendra did 13 B grade Action films with Hemant Birje in 1991-2003.

    Bollywood Dharmendra
  • Hrithik Roshan fought hard to overcome a stammering problem.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Meena Kumari, Nargis, and Madhubala were all discovered as child artistes before they become actresses.

    Bollywood
  • Dilwale Dulhaniya Lejayenge has won the most number of filmfare awards till date.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan wears his wedding ring on his right hand.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Salman Khan was swimming champion in his school days and was tipped to represent India at international events.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • During the shoot of Gangs of Wasseypur, in Banaras, the assistant director Sohil Shah, died in an accident, when he fell off a bridge while in a jeep. Sohil suffered an instant hemorrhage when he hit his ear against a metal rod.

    Bollywood
  • The longest film in the world is also a Bollywood film. ‘LOC: Kargil’ is 4 hours and 25 minutes long and if you plan to catch this war saga, we recommend you’re sitting comfortably.

    Bollywood
  • Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera Naam Joker’ was the first Hindi movie to have two intervals.

    Bollywood
  • Govinda was voted No.10 in a BBC News Online Survey to find out the Top 10 Greatest Stars of Stage and Screen of the last 1000 years.

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Anil Kapoor’s family lived in Raj Kapoor’s garage when they first moved to Mumbai. Later they shifted to a room in one of Mumbai’s middle-class suburbs.

    Anil Kapoor
  • Shah Rukh Khan debut film was Dil Aashna Hai but due to the delay in the release of the film Deewana was considered as his debut film.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • The 'Khalnayak' song 'Choli Ke Peeche' was protested by as many as 42 political parties.

    Bollywood Madhuri Dixit
  • Because the cinema industry was still considered a low profession in the 40s, music director Naushad was introduced by his parents to his bride as a tailor. And ironically, the music that played in his ‘baraat’ was from ‘Rattan’ (1944) – that had been composed by him.

    Bollywood
  • Shahrukh was turned down the Quiz Master's (Prem Kapoor) role in Slumdog Millionaire and the role went to Anil Kapoor.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • The producers of Ghajini were not keen on casting Asin opposite Aamir Khan as she is a South Indian actress. However, Aamir was so much impressed with Asin’s performance in the original Tamil version that he insisted on her playing the lead. It is said that he personally requested Asin to play the lead in the Hindi version. Priyanka Chopra was the original choice.

    Aamir Khan Bollywood
  • Dilip Kumar has won the most awards as the Best Actor with 8 awards spanning over 3 decades.

    Bollywood
  • Emraan Hashmi's grandmother actress Poornima (Zanjeer) was Mahesh Bhatt's mother (Shirin Mohammed Ali) biological sister.

    Bollywood Emraan Hashmi
  • In the early stages of her career, Karisma Kapoor was mortally terrified of photo-sessions.

    Bollywood Karisma Kapoor
  • Ranbir Kapoor still takes Rs 1,500 pocket Money from his mom every week.

    Ranbir Kapoor
  • Salman Khan has been wearing Feroza (turquoise) stone bracelet for the past 15 years.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Model turned actress Malaika Arora is Salman Khan sister-in-law. Actor turned director Atul Agnihotri is his brother-in-law.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge has become a milestone, which is yet to be achieved by anyone even after a decade. It has completed 700 weeks of undeterred run at Mumbai’s Minnerva theatre a couple of years back. It was released nationwide on October 20, 1995.

    Bollywood
  • Waheeda Rahman played both mother and lover to Amitabh Bachchan. She played the love interest of Big B in ‘Adalat’ (1976) and mother in ‘Trishul’ (1978).

    Bollywood
  • Anil Kapoor's father Surinder Kapoor was Nargis and Geeta Bali's secretary.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • Sushmita Sen Did you know that former beauty queen and actress Sushmita Sen keeps a python as a pet?
     

    Bollywood
  • Jaya Bachchan hates to carry handbags, so all her salwar-kameez, formal or informal, all of them, have two pockets on the sides to hold her essentials like keys, combs etc.

    Bollywood
  • Amitabh Bachchan is so punctual that many a times he used to open the gates of Filmistan Studios himself for he used to reach the place before the watchman or gatekeeper.

    Amitabh Bachchan
  • John Abraham voice was dubbed by another actor in his first film Jism (2003).

    Bollywood John Abraham
  • In his youth, actor Dharmendra was such a big fan of actress Suraiya that he walked miles to watch her film ‘Dillagi’ (1949) over 40 times.

    Dharmendra
  • Fans of Amitabh Bachchan built him a temple in Calcutta. The temple has his movies and a lot of info about him.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan 3rd child was born via a surrogate mother on 27 May, 2013.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Katrina Kaif visits  Sidhivinayak Temple, Mount Mary Church and Ajmer Sharif Dargah before the release of her every film.
     

    Katrina Kaif
  • Geet Gaaya Pattharonne was Jeetendra first hit, but that didn't fetch him offers as a lead hero. It was Farz released in 1967, his 4th film appearance and 3rd as the male lead, which made him a known face.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • Priyanka Chopra is the only Indian in the USA to have been selected at the state level for the National Opus Honor Choir, extensive charity work back in India and the USA, and joined the CAF and CII in their literacy program and is their ambassador.
     

    Priyanka Chopra
  • Govinda had got 2007 - Most Stylish Comeback Award at the MTV Lycra Style Awards.

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Shahrukh Khan Father Meer Mohammed Taj Khan died of Cancer in 1981 and his Mother Lateef Fatima Khan died of complications in Diabetes in 1991.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Anurag Basu wanted Katrina Kaif originally to narrate the story in ‘Barfi!’ instead of Ileana D’Cruz. But the director had to go with the latter when Katrina refused due to unknown reasons.

    Bollywood Ileana D Cruz
  • While shooting for the underwater scene in KNPH, Hrithik Roshan's foot got stuck in a rocky crevice and he nearly drowned.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Amitabh is a great fan of Brazilian soccer players. His favorite however is Rudd Gullit. He also has a fondness for golf.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Feroz never attended college. Once he cleared his Senior Cambridge exams, he headed for Bombay, where he rented accommodation for Rs 300 a month. His job as an assistant at movie production house Wadia & Bros paid him exactly Rs 300 a month. To earn more money, he became a hustler at a club and placed bets on snooker matches.

    Bollywood
  • SRK joined Barry John's theatre group in New Delhi and learned acting from him, Barry John also taught acting to Manoj Bajpayee in his theatre group.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Salman Khan in his early days as a struggling actor he never used his father's name and influence like many other heroes with relatives in the industry. He used to visit producers on his own and audition for roles.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Lagaan is the first Bollywood film in which maximum number of foreigners have worked.

    Aamir Khan
  • Raj Kapor used to work as a sweeper boy and clapper boy.

    Bollywood
  • Jeetendra’s first film was ‘Navrang’ (1959), where he played Sandhya’s body double.

    Bollywood Jeetendra
  • In Ishqiya, Preity Zinta was the makers original choice. However, Vidya Balan took over the female lead.

    Bollywood Preity Zinta Vidya Balan
  • Raj kapoor worked as assistant director on Dilip Saab's first film- Jwar Bhata' before making his debut in 'Aag'.

    Bollywood
  • Rekha was a crazy fan of Mumtaz when she entered the industry

    Bollywood
  • Ashok Kumar was a lab assistant in Bombay Talkies before he became an actor in 1936.

    Bollywood
  • In the film ‘Heroine’ Kareena Kapoor wore over 130 different dresses provided from top designers from all over the world. It has been reported that Kareena’s wardrobe for the film was one of the most expensive out of all the Bollywood movies ever created.

    Hrithik Roshan Kareena Kapoor
  • Irfan Khan is the first Bollywood actor who star in two films that won the Academy Award for Best Director (Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Life of Pi (2012)). Both films also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.

    Bollywood Irrfan Khan
  • Akshay Kumar won Best Villain award for Ajnabee (2001) as it was his first ever award since his career started in 1991.

    Akshay Kumar Bollywood
  • Salman Khan was initially offered the role of Devdas, which was later on enacted by his rival Shahrukh Khan.

    Bollywood Salman Khan Shahrukh Khan
  • Akshay Kumar was awarded the highest Japanese honour of “Katana” and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate.

    Akshay Kumar Bollywood
  • Salman Khan did his first playback singing for the film 'Hello Brother'.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Hrithik Roshan had got 30000 (!) marriage proposals on Valentine's day 2000.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan
  • Salman Khan made his debut in 1988 in 'Biwi Ho To Aisi' as Farouq Sheikh's Younger Brother.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Diana Penty's role in the film Cocktail was first offered to Deepika Padukone.

    Diana Penty
  • Shamita Shetty is deeply into Sports and Body training and holds a Diploma in Fashion Designing.

    Bollywood
  • Madhuri's Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, which is one the biggest Blockbuster films to be have ever made in Bollywood not only broke records in India, but also in abroad. In UK the movie grossed 1 million pounds and created a record which hasn't been broken.

    Bollywood Madhuri Dixit
  • ‘Silsila’ (1981) is the only movie in which Shashi played an elder brother to Amitabh. In all the other movies starring the duo, Amitabh has essayed the role of the elder sibling. The films include hits like ‘Deewar’, ‘Suhaag’, ‘Do Aur Do Paanch’ and ‘Namak Halaal’.

    Amitabh Bachchan
  • Dharm Hema were paired romantically in lead role in 31 of the 35 films they did together and 20 were hits and 15 were flops.

    Bollywood Dharmendra Hema Malini
  • Salman Khan's real name is Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan.

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Emraan Hashmi did his first film Footpath with the screen name " Farhan Hashmi".

    Bollywood Emraan Hashmi
  • Lootera movie is based on O'Henry's classic story, 'The Last Leaf'

    Bollywood Ranveer Singh
  • Feroz Khan started a film titled Kasak in the 1980s. After recording a song he shelved the film. The song was later used in Yalgaar. The song E Mere Watan sung by Mohd Aziz and Nitin Mukesh..

    Bollywood
  • Rohit Dhawan had suggested the title ‘Main Tera Hero’ for Varun Dhawan..

    Varun Dhawan
  • In Sholay, both Amit Bachchan and Sanjeev Kumar were more keen to play the dacoit Gabbar Singh which eventually was played by newcomer Amjad Khan.

    Amitabh Bachchan Amjad Khan Bollywood Sanjeev Kumar Sholay 3D
  • Shahrukh Father ran a transport company and his mother was a magistrate.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Dev Anand was highest paid Hindi actor from 1957-1964 and and the 2nd highest paid Hindi actor from 1965-1975.

    Bollywood
  • At the time of marriage, Dilip Kumar was 44 and Saira Banu was 22.

    Bollywood
  • Amitabh Bachchan holds an art degree from Sherwood College, Nainital.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood
  • Shahrukh Khan launched his perfume "SK" with the French perfumers and Jeannes Arthes.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Aditya Chopra rejected 24 verses before approving the song 'Mere Khwaabon Mein Jo Aaye' for his debut film DDLJ.

    Bollywood
  • During the making of 'Sholay' Dharmendra paid the light boys to make mistakes during shots, so that he could embrace Hema Malini again and again.

    Amitabh Bachchan Bollywood Dharmendra Hema Malini Sholay 3D
  • Farhan Akhtar directed the music video for the 1998 hit song "Breathless" from the debut album ofShankar Mahadevan, which made him famous. Later on Farhan Akhtar and Shankar Mahadevan went on to collaborate in every movie Farhan directed, with Shankar composing the music for his films as the trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Shankar Mahadevan,Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa).

    Bollywood Farhan Akhtar
  • Govinda actually sang for himself in some of his movies like, "meri pant bhi sexy" from "dulaara" and "gori gori" from "shola aur shabnam".

    Bollywood Govinda
  • Shah Rukh Khan runs a production company "Dreamz Unlimited" with actress, friend, co-star Juhi Chawla and director, friend Aziz Mirza.

    Bollywood Shahrukh Khan
  • Rani Mukherjee While in school at the age of 14, Rani did a cameo role in her father's Bengali film Biyar Phool (1992).
     

    Rani Mukerji
  • Shilpa Shetty Did you know Shilpa is scared to drive her car? Yes, the actress doesn't know how to drive a car and always has a driver along with her where ever she goes. 

    Bollywood
  • 'Barsaat' was given an 'A' certificate by the censors because actress Nargis was not wearing a dupatta in the film.

    Bollywood
  • Shahid Kapoor starting off his career by working in music videos and advertisements, Kapoor made his Bollywood debut as a background dancer in Subhash Ghai's Taal. Later, he made his debut as a lead in Ishq Vishk and won a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for his performance.

    Bollywood Shahid Kapoor
  • Salman Khan was offered Saif Ali Khan's role in 'Kal Ho Na Ho'

    Bollywood Saif Ali Khan Salman Khan
  • Once the sound era in films started with Alam Ara in India, the second film after Alam Ara, Indrasabha had a record 71 songs.

    Bollywood
  • Bappi Lahiri composed for films starring Jeetendra beginning from Himmatwala. Together Bappi and Jeetendra did 20 films between 1983 to 1988. Of these 20, 16 were silver jubilee hits and 4 were flops.

    Ajay Devgan Bollywood Himmatwala
  • Anil Kapoor was a child artiste in the shelved film Tu Paayal Main Geet starring Shashi Kapoor. He was playing the role of the young childhood Shashi Kapoor.

    Anil Kapoor Bollywood
  • Farhan did something very unconventional in Bollywood by singing all his songs himself for the movie Rock On!! (2008) as the movie featured him as a rockstar.

    Bollywood Farhan Akhtar
  • ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ (1960) was a trilingual – with all scenes shot thrice in Hindi, Tamil and English. When the Tamil one flopped miserably, the English language one was aborted.

    Bollywood
  • Dharmendra Hema Malini were paired in lead roles romantically in 31 films but have worked in 35 films. Of them, had 20 hits.

    Bollywood Dharmendra Hema Malini
  • For a country that is obsessed with films, there are still very few cinema screens. India has fewer than 13,000 screens compared with nearly 40,000 screens in the US.

    Bollywood
  • Salman Khan uses a mulmul cloth to wipe his nose. You will never find him with a handkerchief or tissue! 

    Bollywood Salman Khan
  • Fardeen Khan was arrested on May 5th 2001 in connection with Cocaine Seizure.

    Bollywood
  • Salman Khan's all time favorite actors in bollywood are Megastars Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha.

    Bollywood Dharmendra Salman Khan
  • Hrithik Roshan was an assistant to his father during the making of Koyla.

    Bollywood Hrithik Roshan