The Actors To Watch Out For in 2012

This year might turn out to be most exciting cinema-wise. Raja Sen lists 10 artists who we'll be seeing onscreen in interesting roles.

Actors, when they find their niche, usually stick to that comfort-zone and continue doing what they know works. Not this lot.

Here are the 10 actors to watch this year, people taking risks and winning our curiosity in the best way possible. Take a look.

Rishi Kapoor in Agneepath  

The year's first major release sees the ever-lovable Kapoor in ruthless villain mode as he wears both kohl and menace in this Agneepath remake.

Hrithik Roshan's nostrils look too furious and Sanjay Dutt looks too exaggerated, but Kapoor? We can't wait.

He's an intelligent guy with a nicely simmering screen presence, which is more than enough to get mistaken for an actor in talent-starved Bollywood.

But Akhtar's going out on a limb to play the Flying Sikh in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's biopic.

She's moved on from strength to strength in the last couple of years, and Bollywood's most interesting leading lady now finds herself pregnant, lost without her husband, and in the mood for revenge.

Sujoy Ghosh's next looks interesting, and the onus is all on Balan once again.

We've seen him play the good guy, we've had him dazzle as the bad guy. But it's time for Saif Ali Khan, whom we haven't seen on screen for a while, to step it up.

In Sriram Raghavan's Agent Vinod, Khan plays a globetrotting secret agent. May the cool be real.

While we all enjoyed Kapoor in Rang De Basanti -- and women continue to swoon at the lanky fellow -- he hasn't done anything of note at all since.

Will that all change in Sameer Sharma's food film, where he plays a paunchy everyman? One can only hope.

Khan is one of our finest current actors, and while this Tigmanshu Dhulia film -- about a real-life runner par compare -- didn't get great reviews on the festival circuit, Khan earned raves.

The bar's set high enough for us to be very curious indeed.

He knocked our socks off with Band Baaja Baaraat, bored us to sleep in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, and now returns in the sophomore effort from the highly promising Vikramaditya Motwane.

It's a period film, and he, in his own words, is playing a James Dean type. Okay then.

Another actor who impressed tremendously with his debut, (and didn't dazzle all that much immediately after) Prateik returns in Gowtham Menon's film, touted as a theatrical AR Rahman musical.

Something about the film's look, and Babbar on the posters, is undeniably arresting. Though we admit we don't know what to hope for.

Despite much appreciation for her fiery supporting role in Dibakar Banerjee's excellent Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, we haven't seen much of Chaddha since.

All that's set to change as she plays a pivotal role in Anurag Kashyap's upcoming epic, her role spanning over 50 years.

He's the superstar to watch and bless Ranbir Kapoor for not resting on his laurels and continuing to mix things up.

In Anurag Basu's highly anticipated 2012 film, Kapoor plays a deaf mute called Murphy. The title, Barfee, is the closest he gets to pronouncing his name.

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