Top 5 Bollywood actors who made it without a Godfather in recent times

1. Shahrukh Khan

Who else could have topped this list other than the Baadshah himself. He kick-started his glorious career with television series Fauji in 1989. He played the leading role of Abhimanyu Rai, which earned him much recognition. This led to further appearances in Aziz Mirza’s television series Circus and Mani Kaul’s miniseries Idiot.King Khan’s appearances in these serials led critics to compare his look and acting style with those of film actor Dilip Kumar, but he was not interested in film acting at the time.
Two weeks after his mother’s death in April 1991, Khan changed his decision to not act in films; he moved from Delhi to Mumbai to pursue a full-time career in Bollywood, and was quickly signed to do four films. His first film offer was for Hema Malini’s directorial debut Dil Aashna Hai,and by June 1991, he had started his first shooting. However, production delays meant that his second film Deewana, in which he starred alongside Divya Bharti as the second male lead behind Rishi Kapoor, was released first in June 1992. It went onto become a commercial success and SRK received Filmfare for Best Male Debut and launched him into Bollywood.His initial film roles saw him play characters who displayed high levels of energy and enthusiasm.
Among his 1993 releases, Khan garnered the most appreciation for portraying negative roles: an obsessive lover, and a murderer in the box office hits Darr and Baazigar respectively. Darr marked the first of Khan’s many collaborations with filmmaker Yash Chopra and his company Yash Raj Films. Khan’s stammering and the use of the phrase, “I love you, K-k-k-Kiran,” were popular with audiences.For Darr he received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role, also known as the Best Villain Award. What makes the feat even more special is the fact that many a yesteryear superstars like Dilip Kumar and Rajesh Khanna tried to play the ‘Anti-Hero’ in their prime but were not received positively by the audience. It was SRK who broke the jinx.
In 1995 SRK played Raj Malhotra in DDLJ. It transformed SRK from ‘the next big thing’ to ‘The Superstar’.
He then went on to teach a whole generation of nation the meaning of the word romance.
In 2007 he went on to play Kabir Khan in Chak de India which is considered by many to be his best performance till date. Filmfare included this performance in their 2010 issue of the “Top 80 Iconic Performances.
From being ridiculed as ‘the one who looks like a bear’ to become the global face of Bollywood. King Khan’s life has come a full circle.