Not everyone is a starry eyed hopeful jumping on Bollywood's glamour bandwagon from the word go.
Sukanya Verma looks at celebrities who did other stuff before finding fame at the movies.
A man of many talents, Boman Irani waited tables at the Taj Mahal hotel, dabbled in photography and ran his family wafer business.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Boman Irani/Instagram
Can you believe Raaj Kumar, known for his thundering dialogue delivery, used to be a policeman before he joined the movies?
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X
Bhumi Pednekar worked as an assistant to Yash Raj Films Casting Director Shanoo Sharma for over half a decade before Aditya Chopra cast her as an overweight character in Dum Laga Ke Haisha.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Bhumi Pednekar/Instagram
Before Smita Patil won accolades for her complex portrayals and cinematic eloquence, she showed off her poise as a news reader on Doordarshan.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X
Amitabh Bachchan 1st found employment as an executive at 2 Kolkata firms -- Bird & Co, and Blacker & Company -- career choices he remembers about in his blog as the 'most independent times ever'.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Amitabh Bachchan/Instagram
Known for his brawny physique and macho looks, John Abraham is an MBA whose 1st job as a media planner taught him to be smart with his savings.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy John Abraham/Instagram
You'd think being a star daughter and sister would automatically steer Soha Ali Khan towards Bollywood? Well, she had a banking job with Citibank first.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Soha Ali Khan/Instagram
A professor of civil engineering, Kader Khan was Teacher No 1 to his students before he ruled as actor and writer in Bollywood.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Film History Pics/X
Hard to picture the formidable figure behind Mogambo and Mola Ram as a salesman or clerk but that's pretty much how Amrish Puri earned a living before finding his calling on stage and screen.
IMAGE: Kind courtesy Vardhaan Puri/Instagram
NRI engineers leaving the cushy phoren life and well-paying corporate jobs to start from scratch and revolutionise the Hindi film scene, that's Nagesh Kukunoor, Raj & DK for you.
IMAGES: Kind courtesy Nagesh Kukunoor/Instagram; Raj & DK/Instagram
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