Rising Stars of 80s Bollywood

“Anil’s first acting job came to him when he was in the seventh standard. Little Anil was so excited that he didn’t even take off his makeup when he went back to school.” - Amborish Roychoudhary, Once Upon a Cinema, Firstpost. 

This is a song from one of his early films, Laila. Let’s meet next week

Anil Kapoor started off in Telugu and Kannada films. He first starred in a Telugu film titled, Vamsa Vruksham (1980), followed by Mani Ratnam’s debut film Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983). It took him some time to find his feet in the Hindi film world.

Once he found a place there was no looking back. Anil Kapoor starred in numerous films and some met with thundering success like ‘Mr. India’, ‘Beta’, ‘Parinda’ among others. This is a song from one of his early Hindi films called Mohabbatein.

The next superstar to greet our screens in the 80s was Madhuri Dixit. Dixit started off at the age of 16 in the film ‘Abodh’ to not much success. Her next few projects did not work well either. It was the film ‘Tezaab’ with Anil Kapoor that made her a household name.

There was no looking back for Madhuri after that. She ruled the box office and delivered multiple hits in her decades long career. This is a popular song from the movie Rajkumar also starring Anil Kapoor. 

Madhuri a trained Kathak dancer, was a favourite of dance master Saroj Khan. Over the course of her career, she came to be known for her dancing skills,  unmatched expressions and her ability to bring an element of mischief and playfulness to sensual songs. 

After a maternity break and a stint in the USA, Madhuri’s comeback film was ‘Aaja Nachle’, a film that celebrated her dancing skills. This is a song from another film in the latter half of her career called ‘Dedh Ishqiya’. 

1984 Miss India pageant winner Juhi Chawla also arrived on the scene in the 80s. She became popular for  bubbly and vivacious presence. Chawla worked with a range of actors from Rishi Kapoor to Aamir Khan. This song the film 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke' with Aamir Khan.

After a couple of lukewarm films at the beginning of their career, Juhi - Aamir starrer ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’ catapulted the duo to stardom. The film based on the story of Romeo and Juliet was a superhit film. 

Juhi acted with Aamir Khan in many films including ‘Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke’ and 'Ishq'. Juhi was also paired often with Shah Rukh Khan and they starred in a number of sweet films like ‘Yes Boss’, ‘Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman’ and ‘Duplicate’. This is a song from 'Love Love Love'

Son of actor Aroon and singer-actress Nirmala Devi, Govinda came from a humble background. His family lived in Virar, after his father lost money producing a flop film. After graduation, Govinda debuted some ads including one for a fertilizer and then starred in 'Tan-Badan'.

His first few films including ‘Ilzaam’ were big hits and set him off on a sparkling journey on the big screen. This is a song from the film ‘Sindoor’ also starring Neelam.

Govinda started off as an action and dance hero and then diversified to comedy where he made a mark. Govinda starred in the hit No.1 franchise which included films like ‘Coolie No.1’, ‘Hero No.1’, ‘Jodi No.1’ among others.

The songs of his films became huge hits and his films with director David Dhawan were great successes. This is his very popular song Meri Pant Bhi Sexy from the film ‘Dulaara’ starring Karisma Kapoor. 

These were some of the faces and stars that took films by storm in the 80s.