Top 10 Desi Actors Whose Real Names You Never Knew

Stepping into the reel life, many actors shun their real names and don exotic names in hopes of becoming more famous and putting a veil over their real lives. But over time, fans just can’t let their real identities stay hidden. Check out these 10 Desi actors who changed their names in search of fame:

Reema Khan

Pakistani actress, director, and producer Reema Khan was actually Sameena Khan in real life. Did you know?

Veena Malik

This Lollywood queen and model was actually Zahida Malik. Veena was her adopted screen name to keep it easy and catchy.

Shaan Shahid

Lollywood legend Shaan Shahid who has reigned the industry for more than two decades has a different name in reality. He is actually Armughan Shahid and not ‘Shaan’.

Jackie Shroff

The actor who sizzled with Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela is known to us as Jackie Shroff, quite a snappy name! But in reality, he was called Jaikishan Kakubhai Shroff. Guess Jackie is way better and we’ll keep it that way!

Johnny Lever

This guy has made you roll on your tummy laughing and is a legend when it comes to comedy. But the Bollywood actor’s real name is far different from his reel name – it’s Prakash Rao Janumala!

Mithun Chakraborty

The king of dance of yesteryears was actually named Gourango Chakraborty. Mithun Da, as he is fondly addressed, came up with his screen name only when he started acting and took Bollywood dance to a different level!

Rajesh Khanna

Bollywood and India’s “first superstar” Rajesh Khanna was born Jatin Khanna. It is said that film producer GP Sippy chose this iconic star’s his onscreen name that remains etched in our hearts!

Preity Zinta

This bubbly Bollywood diva was born Preetam Zinta Singh but changed to Preity, a different and fancy name, to match her onscreen persona! And now that she has become Mrs. Preity Goodenough, well all we can say is that she chose the right name.

Mahima Chaudhary

This actress and model from Nepal, who basked in the success of her films like Pardes and Dhadkan was Ritu Chaudhary in reality. Mahima was the name given to her by director Subhash Ghai in the hope of seeing her becoming successful like her “M” counterparts, Manisha Koirala and Madhuri Dixit.

Sunny Leone

The scintillating Bollywood queen Sunny Leone actually has a typical Punjabi name Karenjit Kaur Vohra. She picked up Sunny before she commenced her career and Leone was added to her name by Bob Guccione.

Did any of these names surprise you? Let us know!