We have a number of Bollywood celebrities who live royal lifestyle but only a few came to Bollywood from the royal family. In case, you don’t know much about the connection of our stars to royal families, then you should not miss our list of 12 Bollywood Celebrities who hail from Royal Families!
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan is the fourth most bankable Khan of Bollywood. He was born on 16 August 1970 in New Delhi to former Indian Cricket Team captain, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who hailed from the prestigious royal family of Pataudis, and noted film actress, Sharmila Tagore. Mansoor Ali Khan was Nawab of Pataudi from the year 1952–71. Following his, Saif was crowned the tenth Nawab of Pataudi in a pagri ceremony held in the village of Pataudi, Haryana.
After completing his graduation from the boarding school, Khan came back to India and joined an advertising industry in New Delhi. He worked there for two months before appearing in a television commercial for Gwalior Suiting on the behest of a friend. Subsequently, he was roped in by director Anand Mahindroo, but, unfortunately, the project could not materialize, but Saif relocated to Mumbai to join Hindi films. He finally made his acting debut with Yash Chopra’s unsuccessful film ‘Parampara’ in 1993. The movie also starred actor Aamir Khan. He achieved success with his romantic roles in movies like ‘Yeh Dillagi’ (1995), ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’ (1994). Following the success of these two films, Khan was offered several other movies. In years to come, Saif went on to star in films like ‘Bambai Ka Babu’ (1996), ‘Tu Chor Main Sipahi’ (1996), ‘Hamesha’ (1997), ‘Udaan’ (1997), ‘Keemat’ (1998) ‘Humse Badhkar Kaun’ (1998), ‘Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan’ (1999), ‘Kachche Dhaage’ (1999), ‘Aarzoo’ (1999) and ‘Hum Saath-Saath Hain’ (1999).
By the end of 1990s, Khan had done more than a dozen of movies but he hardly got a role which could have brought him the kind of fame and success which he would have imagined. However, the beginning of the new centaury changed his life forever. His performance in Farhan Akhtar’s directorial debut ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001) turned out to be the best rated performance of his career. The critically and financially successful movie marked a major turning point in the career of the actor, winning him the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role. It kind of uplifted the sinking career of Nawab. After the thunderous success of ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ (2001), Saif appeared in several well received films including ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ (2003), ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ (2004), ‘Hum Tum’ (2005), ‘Parineeta’ (2005), ‘Omkara’ (2006), ‘Love Aaj Kal’ (2009), and ‘Cocktail’ (2012), to mention a few. The actor is currently awaiting the release of his films ‘Chef’ and ‘Bazaar’.
Aditi Rao Hydari
Actress Aditi Rao Hydari, without an ounce of doubt, looks like the type of woman who would be some royal connections. Hydari is considered one of the most beautiful actresses of Indian cinema. She has wowed the audience with her charm in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films. But do you know that the gorgeous actress belongs to not one but two royal families from both her maternal and paternal sides. Aditi was born on 28 October into two royal families of Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari and J. Rameshwar Rao of erstwhile Raja of Wanaparthy family. She is the great granddaughter of Akbar Hydari and the grand niece of Muhammad Saleh Akbar Hydari, former Governor of Assam. After graduating from Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, Hydari decided to venture into films.
Known for her petite looks and graceful performances in a number of movies made in different Indian languages, Aditi first appeared on screen in the Malayalam movie ‘Prajapathi’ (2006). In her debut movie, she was paired opposite well-known actor Mammootty. After garnering praises for her first film, the actress went on to sign a Tamil period drama film called ‘Sringaram’ (2007), directed by debutante Sharada Ramanathan. The film did well at the box office. Buoyed by the success of her first two films, Aditi decided to explore opportunities in other film industries also and subsequently landed an important role in the Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra directorial ‘Delhi 6’ (2009).
Aditi rose to fame after starring in Sudhir Mishra’s 2011 romantic thriller film ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’. She played a character called Shanti in the movie. Her performance was widely appreciated and earned her the Screen Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. After the success of the movie, the actress, who is also a classical Bharatanatyam dancer and trained under Leela Samson, was approached by many filmmakers for varied characters. She appeared in various films like ‘Rockstar’ (2011), ‘Murder 3’ (2013), ‘Khoobsurat’ (2014), ‘Wazir’ (2016) and ‘Fitoor’ (2016). The actress will next be seen in ‘Aur Devdas’, ‘Kaatru Veliyidai’, ‘Bhoomi, and ‘Padmavati’.
Riya Sen
Well-known Model and actress Riya Sen hails from a family whose many generations have had a long association with films. Her elder sister Raima Sen, her mother Moon Moon Sen, and her grandmother Suchitra Sen, all are actresses and have been an integral part of Bengali and Hindi film industries over the years. Through her father’s side, Riya is related to a royal family. She was born on 24 January 1981 in Kolkata, West Bengal, to Bharat Dev Varma and Moon Moon Sen. Her father belongs to the royal family of Tripura. Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, whose younger sister Gayatri Devi was the Maharani of Jaipur. Her paternal great-grandmother, Indira, was the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda.
Like her sister, mother and grandmother, Riya too decided to take a plunge into films and has made a name for herself in both Bengali and Hindi film industries. She started her acting career as a child actress in the Hindi film ‘Vishkanya’ (1991). The film was a moderate success. After a decade, Riya made her debut as a leading heroine with the sex-comedy film ‘Style’ (2001). Though, critics panned the film, it was commercially successful and paved the way for the actress’ acting career. ‘Style’ was followed by ‘Qayamat: City Under Threat’ (2003), and ‘Jhankar Beats’ (2003). Both films did decent business at the box office. Apart from Hindi movies, Sen kept starring in Bengali and other South Indian films also. She was last seen in Dark Chocolate (2016), which was a Hindi and Bengali production. Her upcoming project includes ‘Lonely Girl – A Psychological Thriller’.
Bhagyashree Patwardhan
Renowned actress Bhagyashree, who is best known for her first and only successful Hindi film ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’ (1989) opposite superstar Salman Khan, is actually related to royalty. The beautiful and exquisitely dignified lady belongs to the Patwardhan royal Marathi family of Sangli in the state of Maharashtra. Her father, Vijay Singhrao Madhavrao Patwardhan, is the present King of Sangli.
Bhagyashree began her acting career with a television show called ‘Kachchi Dhoop’. The show, directed by veteran actor and filmmaker, Amol Palekar, did well on Doordarshan. The success of the show led the actress do more shows like ‘Honi Anhoni’ and ‘Kisse Miya Biwi Ke’. Her great features and excellent acting skills caught the attention of some filmmakers and soon Bhagyashree was roped in for ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’. The film turned out to be one of the highest grossing films of the decade. It is still considered one of the most romantic films of all time. After the success of the film, people thought that the actress would have a long inning in films. However, Bhagyashree surprised one and all when she married Sindhi Businessman Himalaya Dassani decided to star opposite her husband only.
Her decision of doing films with her husband only did not work in her favor as, after marriage, she did three films: ‘Qaid Main Hai Bulbul’, ‘Tyagi’ and ‘Payal’ with her husband Himalaya in 1992. Unfortunately, all three films tanked at the box office. In 1993, she also did ‘Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi’, which was her last Hindi movie in the 1990s and she quit films for rest of the decade. She made a comeback to Hindi films with ‘Hello Girls’ in 2001 and later appeared in ‘Janani’ (2006), ‘Humko Deewana Kar Gaye’ (2006) and ‘Red Alert: The War Within’ (2008). Now, she is seen in television shows more than films.
Sonal Singh Chauhan
Model, singer and actress, Sonal Singh Chauhan is a multi-talented personality. And why should she not be? She has a lot of royal blood in her veins which makes her utterly talented and deft at so many creative things. Born on 16 May 1987 at Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Chauhan belongs to the royal family of Rajasthan. But the stunningly beautiful actress never boasted of her royal lineage to reach where she is in her life at the moment.
Sonal, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema and Hindi cinema, was a successful model before venturing into films. She won the Miss World Tourism 2005 title. She is the first Indian model who clenched the coveted Miss World Tourism title. After winning a number of beauty pageants and roaming around the world, Sonal appeared in several commercials of well-known brands like Ponds, Nokia and Dish TV. She also graced the cover page of the popular FHM magazine. Later, she has featured in the cover of many leading magazines including Beauty, Wow and Maxim and then appeared in a song of Himesh Reshammiya’s chartbusting album ‘Aap Kaa Surroor’. Exhilarated with the response her song received by the music lovers, she soon made her Bollywood debut with Kunal Deshmukh’s crime romance drama ‘Jannat’ (2008) opposite Emraan Hashmi. The film was a box office success and Sonal garnered good reviews for her performances and was even nominated for Filmfare Best Debutant Female Award. However, despite making a successful film debut, she did not get much work in Bollywood. Reportedly, the actress had signed a three films deal with the Bhatts’ Vishesh Films. But, after ‘Jannat’, Sonal was never seen in any Vishesh Films’ movie again. A relative lack of good opportunities in Bollywood compelled the actress to shift her focus to the south film industry where she is doing good work now.
S D Burman
Sachin Dev Burman, popularly known as S D Burman, is revered as one of the most creative and talented music composers of all times. His songs are popular even today, after so many years of coming into existence. Burman was born on 1st October 1906 in Comilla, Bengal Presidency, which at this time falls within the territory of present-day Bangladesh. Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman, son of Maharaja Ishanachandra Manikya Dev Burman, Maharaja of Tripura, was his father and his mother was Raj Kumari Nirmala Devi, the royal princess of Manipur. SD Burman started working as a radio singer on Calcutta Radio Station in the late ’20s before commencing his musical journey in 1937 by composing songs for Bengali films.
In 1944, Burman moved to Mumbai, at the request of Sasadhar Mukherjee of Filmistan. Mukherjee wanted Burman to score music for two films of superstar Ashok Kumar – ‘Shikari’ (1946) and ‘Aath Din’. Burman achieved success and recognition with ‘Do Bhai’ (1947). The song ‘Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya’, which was rendered in the voice of Geeta Dutt, was his breakthrough song. The overnight success of the movie catapulted Burman to the peak of fame. Within no time, he emerged as the leading music composers in the industry.
S D Burman embellished more than 100 films in Hindi and Bengali with his excellent music. His songs have been sung by all the established singers of the period including Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum, Mohammed Rafi, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Mukesh and Talat Mahmood.
Kiran Rao
Besides being wife of Mr. Perfectionist Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao is a distinguished film producer, screenwriter and filmmaker. She was born into a royal family of Telangana on 7 November 1973. Her grandfather J. Rameshwar Rao was Raja of Wanaparthy, Telangana state. Though Rao was born in Telangana, she was raised in Kolkata where she completed her schooling. In the year of 1992, her parents decided to leave Kolkata so she moved to Mumbai and did her graduation from the prestigious Sophia College for Women in 1995. Quite studious since birth, Rao enrolled for the Social Communications Media course at the Sophia Polytechnic for two months, but then quit and left for Delhi to do Masters at AJK Mass Communication Research Center at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. After completing the course, she moved back to Mumbai and started working in films as an assistant director.
Rao’s first movie as an assistant director was the godsmakingly epic ‘Lagaan’ (2001) directed by the renowned filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker. It was during the shoot of this film where she met her future husband Aamir Khan for the first time. After ‘Lagaan’, she assisted Mira Nair on ‘Monsoon Wedding’ (2001) and Shaad Ali on ‘Saathiya’ (2002). She assisted Ashutosh again on ‘Swades: We, the People’, starring Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. After gaining moviemaking experience by assisting renowned filmmakers like ‘Ashutosh Gowariker’ and Mira Nair, Kiran Rao made her directorial debut with the film ‘Dhobi Ghat’ (2011), which was produced by Aamir Khan under his banner Aamir Kha
Raima Sen
We have already discussed about Riya Sen and her connection to the royalty, which makes it pretty much obvious that her elder sister Raima Sen shares the same royal connection. Ila Devi, the paternal grandmother of both the actresses, was from a royal family of Tripura. She was the princess of Cooch Behar. Ila Devi was also the sister of Gayatri Devi who was the Maharani of Jaipur.
Talking about Raima, she was born on Earth on 7th November 1979. Renowned Bengali actress Moon Moon Sen is her mother. Today, Raima is known as an actress who can perform any character given to her with unmatched brilliance. Nowadays, the demure actress primarily stars in Bengali movies, but not many people know that she started her acting career with Hindi films. Since her first movie almost two decades ago, Sen has come a long way in her film career. She has worked with almost all big filmmakers from the Bengali film industry including Rituporno Ghosh, Koushik Ganguly, Kamaleswar Mukherjee and others. Her performances have been lauded many times by critics and audiences alike.
Raima entered films in 1999 with the Hindi biographical drama ‘Godmother’. Since she had a very small role in the film, which primarily belonged to the female lead, Shabana Azmi, she was almost overlooked in her maiden venture. The actress then went on to do ‘Daman’, wherein she played Raveena Tandon’s daughter. Though Raima once again had a very small appearance in, this time people could not ignore her and she received rave reviews for her act in the movie which bought Raveena the distinguished National Film Award for Best Actress. However, her breakthrough role came when she appeared in Rituparno Ghosh’s Bengali film ‘Chokher Bali’ (2003). The actress received unanimous praises from all corners. After ‘Chokher Bali’, she appeared in a couple of more films, but she failed to enthrall the audience until ‘Parineeta’ happened in 2005. Since then she has appeared in a number of Hindi and Bengali films including ‘Dus’ (2005) Antar Mahal (2005), ‘The Bong Connection’ (2006), ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’ (2007), ‘Hrid Majharey’ (2014). She was last seen in the Hindi film ‘Bollywood Diaries (2016).
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