Decade in Review (2010-2019): Bollywood's 10 Best Breakout Performances

Performances that paved the way for stardom, resurrected careers, and cemented legacy – we look back at Hindi cinema’s very best in the last 10 years.

Ronit Roy started off in the early Nineties with Jaan Tere Naam which is known for its hit soundtrack. Though his film career didn’t take off, Roy became a popular TV star with prominent roles in soaps like Kasautii Zindagii Kay. And then came debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane’s coming of age drama, Udaan that had the industry finally discovering Roy’s potential. Roy plays an authoritarian father Bhairav Singh who does not spare the rod. The stone-faced Roy delivers brilliantly in creating one of the most memorable and unconventional dad roles of all time.

Though Vidya had had a lot of critical success up until this point, she had done a few forgettable films like Heyy Babyy and Kismet Konnection as well. She needed to get back to a strong role and thus arrived this biopic on the life of Silk Smitha. Vidya set the screens on fire with her portrayal of the troubled star of erotic South Indian films and walked away with a Filmfare as well as the National Award for best actress.

2012 was the year it all came together for Nawaz, who had been playing bit roles in Hindi films dating back to Sarfarosh in 1999. He had meaty roles in Kahaani and Talaash, but the role Anurag Kashyap immortalised him as Faisal Khan in his magnum opus: the Gangs of Wasseypur duology. Nawaz plays the prodigal son who inherits his family’s empire of crime, holding his own against a hugely impressive cast led by Manoj Bajpayee. The withdrawn dopehead Faisal transforms into the unfeeling crime lord of Wasseypur with only one thing on his mind: revenge.

A film about sperm donation and infertility with two debutants in the lead had none of the trappings of a blockbuster, and yet this was one of the biggest hits of 2012. Ayushmann plays the role of a sperm donor. The newcomer found a snug fit into the role and won Filmfare Awards for the best debutant as well as best playback singer for performing Paani Da Rang in the film. Ever since his first film, the young actor has created a niche entirely of his own with his interesting choice of roles.

An impressive debut in Gangster, Kangana cycled through a series of mediocre films that did no justice to her talent. And then happened Queen which established her as the most dependable actress in Hindi cinema today. She authentically plays Delhi girl Rani Mehra, who, upon being dumped at the altar by her overbearing fiance, sets out on a journey of self-discovery that made us laugh and cry in equal measures.

Having done a clutch of small films, Nimrat arrives on the big stage with this critically acclaimed performance in Ritesh Batra’s directorial debut. Nimrat plays Ila, a housewife looking to beat the drudgery of daily life and finding love in the unlikeliest of places. Despite receiving multiple nominations for her performance, Nimrat regrettably did only one other big film - Airlift, alongside Akshay Kumar -- though she did catapult to international stardom with roles in two American TV series, Homeland and Wayward Pines and then playing a commendable role as Captain Shikha Sharma in Alt Balaji’s web series The Test Case.

When she started out with Student Of The Year, Alia seemed like yet another star child being launched into the limelight with commercial fare that couldn’t fail. SOTY succeeded at the box office, but we wondered if there was more to Alia. And there was. Her performance in Highway was a revelation. She plays a kidnapping victim who’s forced to relive the trauma of childhood abuse, and her powerful delivery in the movie’s climax where she fronts up to her apathetic family was breathtaking. With this film, Alia became one of the most sought after actors of her generation.

In no time, Kaushal has established himself as someone at ease with heavy duty cinema as well as commercial fare. And it all started with this poignant performance as a reticent boy dealing with love and loss. Kaushal gets into the skin of Deepak Kumar, bringing out the character’s rawest emotions with ease and moving audiences with his line, “Yeh dard sala khatam kyu nahi hota?”

If any Hindi film performance comes close to the fiery portrayal by Robert de Niro in Raging Bull, this is it. Vineet’s commitment to the role, and the physical effort he put it are commendable. He trained as a boxer for a year to prepare for the role and he also delivered an explosive performance as Shravan Kumar, a boxer punching above his weight and caste. Vineet had made his presence felt in the ensemble cast of Gangs Of Wasseypur, but as lead in this film he co-wrote with his sister, he shines brightly.

Neena Gupta provides a great example of an actor reinventing herself. She was a major player in the 1980s arthouse scene. But over the years, the industry had moved on. And then recently, she was widely praised for an honest Instagram post stating she’s an actor looking for work. Some good roles followed soon, and she was the star of Badhaai Ho, a story about a middle aged woman who gets pregnant. She proved that if the script is good and the role well written, you don’t need young actors driving a film.