sOur country’s film making has changed in recent years, we have seen various content-driven filmmakers, that bought us some of the most talented artists in front of us. Here, I am listing a few most progressive and mature Indian Artists in our industry.

The Most Progressive And Mature Artists of Indian Cinema

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

The man who doesn’t need a further introduction, Nawaz was born in Budhana, Uttar Pradesh. He graduated with B.Sc (Chemistry) from Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, and initially worked as a Chemist in Vadodara. He left for Delhi to search for a new job where he was introduced to acting after he watched a play, then he acted in dramas to fulfill the criteria for admitting to the National School of Drama. 

After graduating from the National School of Drama he moved to Mumbai for fulfilling his passion for acting. He made his acting debut in Sarfarosh, followed by very brief and even sometimes uncredited roles in films like – School, Jungle, Munna Bhai MBBS, Dev D. 

His major success was Gangs of Wasseypur series where he played Faisal Khan. The film was a major success and was critically appreciated as well, followed by his successful films like The Lunchbox, Kick, Badlapur, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Maanjhi – the mountain man, Raman Raghav, Raees, etc. His latest release was The Photograph, for all of these movies Nawaz was appreciated and all of these are major successes and made him the star he is today.

Taapsee Pannu

The gorgeous and talented Taapsee was born on 1 August 1987, in New Delhi. She completed her schooling from Mata Ji Kaur Public School, New Delhi, and completed her graduation in Computer Science from Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology, New Delhi. 

After completing her graduation she worked as a Software Engineer. Her modeling career began after she was selected in Channel V’s talent show – Get Gorgeous, which also started her acting career. After a few years, she gave up modeling and became a full-time actress.

She made her acting debut in a Telugu film Jhummandi Nadam, since then she had appeared in a number of critically acclaimed South-Indian and Bollywood films – Baby (2015), Pink (2016), The Ghazi Attack (2017), Mulk (2018), Badla (2019), and her latest release is Game-over (2019).

She is known for her wide and unconventional choice of films, in almost all of her recent films we can see her portraying a strong female character which is a new trendsetter in Bollywood.

Pankaj Tripathi 

Pankaj Tripathi is an actor who is predominantly active in Bollywood and is known for his exceptional role as Kaleen Bhaiya in Mirzapur. 

His first screen appearance was in 2004, in an uncredited role in the movie called  “Run” and since then he has done more than 40 films and 60 TV shows but he rose to fame after his supporting role as Sultan, in Gangs of Wasseypur series. 

He was born in Belsand, Gopalganj District, Bihar to Pandit Banaras Tripathi and Hemwanti Devi. He moved to Patna after completing his high school where he did theaters and was an active member of ABVP, then after seven years he moved to Delhi and graduated from the  the National School of Drama, Delhi in 2004.

Tripathi came into the industry in 2004 but was widely appreciated and recognized eight years later, since then he has done multiple critically appraised movies like – Fukrey (2013), Masaan (2015),  Nil Batey Sannata (2016), Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017),  Newton (2017), Fukrey Returns (2017) and Stree (2018).

He has also appeared in Netflix’s major Indian Show – Sacred Games and Amazon Prime’s – Mirzapur, where he played the infamous Kaleen Bhaiya. 

Tripathi is a natural actor and has a theater background, He has received praises in masses all across India.

Also Read: The Progressive Artists’ Group And Its Impact on Indian Modern Art

Radhika Apte

Our very own Netflix’s girl – Radhika Apte, was born in Vellore, Tamil Nad,u and was brought up in Pune, Maharashtra. 

Radhika has been a part of theater productions before debuting into films. She first appeared on the big screen in 2005’s, Vaah Life Ho Toh Aisi, since then she has been part of various Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films. 

 

She gathered praises for her three projects in 2015 – Badlapur, Maanjhi – the mountain men and Hunterrr, where she appeared in supporting roles. Her independent characters in Phobia (2016) and Parched (2016), further rose her to fame. 

She also has been a part of three of Netflix’s projects – Lust Stories, Sacred Games and Ghoul, where we saw her in independent and strong characters. 

She being from theater background makes her flawless in her roles. Her latest critically appreciated and the successful Hindi venture was Andhadhun (2018), which was widely appreciated among all kind of audience.

Manoj Bajpai

Bajpai was born in Belwa, Bihar. His father was a farmer and his mother was a housewife. Bajpai despite being from a farmer family always wanted to be an actor. He was rejected thrice from the National School of Drama and wanted to commit suicide.  After which he attended Barry John’s workshop, impressed by his acting Barry hired him to assist in his workshop. Later he applied for the fourth time to National School of Drama but this time, he was offered a teaching position instead.

In his early struggling period, he appeared in Swabhimaan (Doordarshan), and then minor roles in films like Dastak (1996) and Tamanna (1997). 

Bajpai’s breakthrough film was Satya (1998) – where he played Bhiku Matre, this character opened all doors of fortune for Bajpai and his character was widely and critically appreciated, this film was also screened in 1998’s International Film Festival of India. 

He then appeared in films like Shool ( 1998), Road (2002), Pinjar (2003), LOC Kargil (2003), in which his character was critically appreciated. 

His long list of successful films includes – Rajneeti, Gangs of Wasseypur (part 1), Special 26, Shootout at Wadala. His out of the box character in the film Aligarh – about a professor who was suspended on the grounds of morality was hugely appreciated by critics. The latest venture of his was Sonchiraiya – where he played dacoit Maan Singh, was critically appreciated.

He is two time National Film Award winner,  four times Filmfare Award winner. In, 2019 he has been rewarded with Padma Bhushan for his contribution to arts.

Kangana Ranaut

Kangana was born in Bhambla (now Surajpur), Himachal Pradesh into a Rajput Family. She is one of the highest paid actresses in the country, also she has received three National Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards, also she has been featured five times in Forbes India Celebrity list.

Initially, she wanted to become a Doctor, at the age of 16 she moved to Delhi and briefly started her modeling journey. After training under theater director Arvind Gaur – she made her debut with Gangster (2006) for which she won Filmfare best female debut. She then appeared in Woh Lamhe (2006), Life in a Metro (2007), Fashion (2008) and won Best supporting National Film Award for all of three. All of these characters portrayed by her were critically appreciated since then she appeared in a number of strong character-centric movies like – Tanu weds Manu (2011), Queen (2014), Katti Batti (2015), Tanu weds Manu (2015) and her latest appearance on big screen was in Manikarnika : The queen of Jhansi (2019).

We can see her rebellious attitude in her films, she has done outstanding strong female characters, which were critically appreciated as well. She is considered as one of the most fashionable celebrities in the industry, also she launched her own clothing line for the brand Vero Moda.

Ayushmann Khurrana

Our very own multi-talented Indian Actor, Poet, Singer and Television Host – Ayushmann was born in Chandigarh to Anita and P. Khurrana. He completed his schooling from St. John High School. He majored in English Literature and has a master’s degree in Mass Communication from Punjab University.

He made his first appearence on TV at the age of 17, in Channel V’s reality show Popstars in 2002. In 2004, he appeared and won the second season of MTV Roadies. After finishing his graduation and post graduation he worked as RJ at Big FM, Delhi. After then he has appeared in several youth-based shows such as  Pepsi MTV Wassup, The Voice of Youngistaan, also in multiple other shows like  MTV Fully Faltoo Movies, Cheque De India and Jaadoo Ek Baar. He hosted India’s Got Talent and IPL league as well.

Ayushmann made his acting debut with Vicky Donor (2012), which was critically appreciated and was a major commercial success. He then appeared in films like – Nautanki Saala (2013), Bewkoofiyan (2014), Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) for which he was critically appreciated. 

He then appeared in Bareilly ki Barfi (2017) and Shubh Mangal Savdhaan (2017) both of the films were critically appreciated and were a commercial success. In 2018, Khuranna established himself as an actor with two outstanding and challenging performances in Andhadhun and Badhaii Ho, both of the films were critically appreciated and were major commercial box office success. 

Also Read: Most Overlooked Bollywood Movies Of This Decade

Konkona Sen Sharma

Sen Sharma was born to Mukul Sharma, who is science writer and journalist and Aparna Sen, who is an actress and filmmaker. She has a degree in English from St. Stephens College, Delhi.

Konkana made her debut as a child artist in a Bengali film – Indira, and made her adult debut in another Bengali film – Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, followed by films like Titli, and English film Mr. & Mrs. Iyer – the film was critically appreciated and was a commercial success, also landed her a National Film Award for Best Actress. This was followed by National Award winning film – Page 3. She followed it by acclaimed performances in 15 park avenue and Omkara, since then we have seen her doing justice to her roles in films like Life in a metro and Fashion for which she gathered praises and all the films were successes. We last saw her in the film Lipstick Under My Burkha which received positive reviews and was critically appreciated.

 

 

Rajkumar Rao 

Rao was born in Gurugram, India. He finished his schooling from  S.N. Sidheshwar Sr. Sec. School and graduated in Arts from Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (ARSD)–University of Delhi. Later, he graduated from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune and shifted to Mumbai for making his career as an actor.

He made his film debut in Love Sex aur Dhoka, and his breakthrough role was in the movie Kai Po Che which was a commercial success and received positive reviews from the critics. He established himself as one of the most prominent and talented actor after his role in the movie Shahid where he played Shahid Azmi, which landed him  National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor, followed by his stellar performances in movies like – Queen, Aligarh, Citylights and Trapped. In 2017, he appeared in two films – Barielly ki Barfi and Newton, for both of them he received praises, his latest release was Ek Ladki Ko Dekha To Aisa Laga. 

Rao has established himself as one of the most prominent and talented actor in the film industry by his choice of a variety of work.

So here we provided some of the Most Progressive And Mature Indian Artists. We hope some above-listed artists might be your favorite artists too.