Has a movie ever ruined the careers of promising actors and actresses?

 Quite often yes and one actress certainly comes to my mind when it comes to this subject:

Anyone who grew up in the 90s would no doubt remember this promising young actress who was famous for a short brief period of time named Alicia Silverstone.

Yeah that’s her in both pictures but anyways she was a very young actress at the time who made her acting debut in this psychological thriller called The Crush (1993).

Think Fatal Attraction only this time the psychotic dame is a 14 year old girl played by Alicia Silverstone who has an obsessed crush on a guy who’s an adult and way older than she is and is already romancing a grown woman but just like Glenn Close she doesn’t take to being rejected very well and starts to seriously stalk this guy and goes so far as to try to kill him and his girlfriend.

Well the movie didn’t quite get big ratings (Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 25 percent) but it did jumpstart Alicia’s career as a promising actress in the 90s who would later on become extremely popular when she starred in the movie Clueless (1995).

A popular teenage flick to where she played a rich, self-centered, teenage drama queen who’s living the highly popular social life with her teenage friends in high school who becomes a matchmaker for this one girl played by late actress Brittany Murphy by giving her a complete makeover only for this girl to become more popular than she is and throughout the movie she pretty much learns that when it comes to love and romance she’s completely CLUELESS. Well the movie became such a popular cult hit and for a short time it became a major franchise to where a TV series spinoff came on shortly after the movie came out which ran for a few seasons. (Unfortunately Alicia did not star in it nor did Brittany Murphy) And girls everywhere thought it was cool to act like those girls in the movie quoting phrases like “Whatever” or “As if” in those extremely sassy ANNOYING tones and the movie itself pretty much made Alicia one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood at the time who pretty much had a promising career ahead of her if it had not been for the fact that she starred in the very abomination known as…….

Batman & Robin (1997)

Yep unfortunately that’s her on the left as Batgirl alongside George Clooney as Batman and Chris O’Donnell as Robin. Well anyone who remembers the 90s would certainly know that this Grade A Disaster of a superhero movie directed by Joel Schumacher who obviously didn’t know anything about Batman was a complete box office flop that would become known as the absolute worst superhero movie ever made that not only sent the first Batman movie series into the grave but completely DESTROYED Alicia’s short lived movie career after her disastrous role as Batgirl. In fact her version of Batgirl was so bad that all these fans went so far as to constantly refer to her as Fatgirl because of her extremely bad costume but that wasn’t her fault because if there’s anyone to blame for everything that was wrong with the movie it’s none other than Joel Schumacher of course. But nevertheless very shortly after the movie BOMBED at the box office bigtime her career went completely downhill and by the 2000s she pretty much completely faded out of sight. At one point though she did try to make a comeback with a TV sitcom on NBC called Miss Match but unfortunately the show was a ratings flop which got canceled after a few episodes and once again she completely faded out of sight so while you may see her every now and then it’s obvious she hasn’t at all made a successful comeback since the 90s ended and Batman & Robin pretty much destroyed her very short lived career which is such a sad shame considering she certainly had a promising career after The Crush & Clueless.

Additional Note: I should also mention that not only did Batman & Robin ruined Alicia Silverstone’s career but also before that movie actor Chris O’Donnell had quite a very promising career going for him as well after starring in these movies in the 90s but after his role as Robin in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin which many fans came to hate his movie career also went straight downhill as well but unlike Alicia he did manage to make a successful comeback with the TV show spinoff NCIS Los Angeles along with LL Cool J who he stars alongside with. So while his movie career may have ended he at least still has a career with a TV show.

Which actors and actresses are the most versatile in South India?

 Off the top of my head, I can list at least a score and more of actors from the four southern languages spanning over five decades. For the sake of contemporaneity, and leaving all lead actors like Kamal Hassan, Vikram, Mohanlal et al., I zero in on just one actor, who in my opinion is the very epitome of versatility.

Prakash Raj

Hailing from a rich stage background from the Kannada theater, this thespian has straddled the south Indian tinsel scene like a colossus in all the four languages(and also recently, Hindi) for nearly three decades, bagging along the way one National Award for Best Actor, one for the Best Supporting actor, one Special Jury awards, four Tamilnadu State Film awards,a handful of Filmfare (South) awards and half a dozen Nandi awards for his performances covering an entire range of roles. Here I will be talking only about his master class performances in Tamil films and some stray Telugu films, and leave the field open for my friends from other South Indian states to chip in with their contributions in the comments, or as separate answers.

Aasai (1995) : Perhaps in his first major running role, his performance as a cantankerous Army Major coveting his unwed sister in law, Prakash Raj oozed with a menacing meanness. In fact his performance as the scheming antagonist totally overshadowed the protagonist played by an young and handsome Ajith Kumar. In the same year he won his first Tamilnadu State Film award for best villain for his role as a sadistic husband in the movie Kalki directed by his mentor in Tamil, K.Balachander.

Iruvar (1997) : In this cult classic directed by the maestro Maniratnam, a thinly veiled political drama about the relationship between M.G.Ramachandran and M.Karunanidhi, Prakash Raj donned the complex role of Thamizhselvan modeled on Karunanidhi’s persona with great aplomb while pitted against another thespian Mohanlal in the role of Anandan closely resembling M.G.R. Prakash Raj won his first National award, for the best Supporting Actor for his excellent portrayal.

(Prakash Raj in Iruvar)

Antahpuram (Telugu-1998) : Prakash Raj played the elderly Narasimha, a violent and uncouth village chieftain with great authenticity,which fetched him another National Award (Special Jury) Prakash Raj also produced and reprised his role in the Tamil movie under the same name in 1999.

(Prakash Raj in Anthapuram)

Appu (2000 film) : In this movie Prakash Raj donned the role of Maharani, a transgender brothel keeper, reprising the role made iconic by Sadashiv Amrapurkar in the Hindi original Sadak, and delivered a power packed performance, as usual eclipsing the hero in every scene.

(Prakash Raj in Appu)

Okkadu (Telugu-2002) / Ghilli (Tamil-2004) : The negative role played by Prakash Raj in these Tamil/Telugu movies attained a sort of cult status, with his way of addressing the heroine as “Chellam” (Pet/Darling)became a trade mark of the actor.

( “Chellam” Prakash Raj in Ghilli)

Vasool Raja MBBS (Tamil-2004) In this Tamil remake of Munnabhai MBBS, Prakash Raj played the arrogant yet adorable Dr. Vishwanathan, matching the incomparable Kamal Haasan stride by stride in every scene they appeared together.

(Prakash Raj with Kamal in Vasool Raja M.B.B.S)

Anniyan (Tamil-2005) : In this movie as the cop in hot pursuit in the trail of the elusive Anniyan, Prakash Raj still managed to hold his own against a rampaging Vikram in an author backed role and won the Tamilnadu State Award for Best Villain (though I personally would not consider his role in the movie as villain)

(Prakash Raj with Vikram in Anniyan)

Bommarillu (Telugu-2006) / Santosh Subramaniam (Tamil -2008) : The role of Prakash Raj as an overbearing father dominating over every decision of his son was the pivot for the whole movie.

(Prakash Raj in Santosh Subramanian)

Mozhi (Tamil - 2007) : In my opinion, the best ever performance of Prakash Raj, in a parallel role as the fun loving friend of the protagonist, he could hold out against his much younger co-stars, and set the screen on fire with his spontaneous comic capers. Truly international level.

(Prakash Raj in Mozhi. Incidentally he was the produer too)

Arai En 305-il Kadavul : Prakash Raj played the god in this comedy, totally shedding his villain image with a very benign and calm look in his eyes.

Kanchivaram (Tamil-2008) : The crowning glory of an amazing career. Prakash Raj’s understated and poignant performance as a suffering silk weaver in the pre independence India, very deservedly fetched him the National Award and Filmfare award for the Best Actor.

(Prakash Raj in his award winning role in Tamil movie Kanchivaram)

Abhiyum Naanum (Tamil-2008) : In this home production of his, Prakash Raj turned from the hated villain of Trisha in Ghilli to her doting father, turning the dominant father of Santosh Subramanian into a caring and loving one for his daughter. This role merits a mention just prove how he could achieve such transformations effortlessly and with total ease.

(Prakash Raj with Trisha in Abhiyum Naanum)

As I said in the beginning, this list covers only Tamil movies, giving just a fractional glimpse of the versatility of Prakash Raj. If we take into consideration his performances in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, we can realise the full extent of his enormous talent.

( All images are from the internet)

Which Bollywood actresses have copied outfits from each other in Bollywood itself?

 Deepika and Sonam

Jacqueline and Kalki

Urvashi and Jhanvi

Parineeti and Kriti Sanon

Mahira Khan and Alia Bhatt

Alia and Kalki

Alia and Twinkle

Bipasha and Malaika

Kareena and Deepika

Katrina and Deepika

Shruti and Shamita

Deepika and Shilpa

Kangana and Sonam

What are the most expensive outfits worn by Bollywood actresses?

 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Rs. 75 Lakh

Aishwarya’s dress on her wedding day was a symbol of royalty. It was finely crafted with gold borders and studded Swarovski crystal. Her dress was designed by Neeta Lulla. It was an estimated that price of this dress was Rs. 75 Lakh.

Shilpa Shetty Kundra – Rs. 50 Lakh

Of course, it was her wedding day. She had to make it perfect and look like a diva on earth. Hence she spent approx Rs. 50 Lakh on her dress. It had 8000 Swarovski crystals and fine work of art that captured the spirit of an Indian wedding. It was designed Tarun Tahiliani.

Kareena Kapoor Khan – Rs. 50 Lakh

Kareena Kapoor got her bridal dress designed by Manish Malhotra. She was turning begum Jaan of Bollywood by marrying his love Mr. Nawab Khan(Saif Ali Khan) .She has to look like Queen of Bollywood so she spent a lump sum of Rs. 50 Lakh.

Anushka Sharma Kohli – Rs. 30 Lakh

Recently, got married to Virat Kohli in Italy, Anushka had to look like the she is a beautiful Indian Bride. Anushka made her day a perfect day with a dress designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee which was pale pink in color. She looked absolutely stunning in this dress and complemented this dress with traditional Indian jewellery. She spent a total of Rs. 30 Lakh for this beautiful dress.

Genelia Deshmukh – Rs. 17 Lakh

Genelia’s wedding happened with two different cultures. One with Christian culture and another with Maharashtrian culture. The Maharashtrian wedding dress was designed by Neeta Lulla. Her saree had a border of embellished gold Kundan work of embroidery. Her bridal sari costs 17 Lakh approx.

Urmila Matondkar – Rs. 4.50 Lakh

She is very beautiful actresses of bollywood. She had to wear a dress that totally complement her beauty. So she had her dress designed by Manish Malholtra. She wore gold and kundan jewellery, and looked very beautiful.

Bipasha Basu – Rs. 4 Lakh

Her designer was Sabyasachi Mukherjee and her dress cost Rs. 4 lakh. Bipasha wore heavy Kundan jewelry from Jaipur jewels. She wore a bridal saree of red and gold combination.

Dia Mirza – Rs. 3 Lakh

Dia Mirza wore a very unique dress on her wedding day. She wore an outfit which stands apart from regular dresses because of its color and design. It was designed by Ritu Kumar that had a Kurta, Payjama and farshi in green and golden beige color. This was a dress of Hyderabadi culture. This dress cost Rs. 3 lakhs.

Esha Deol – Rs. 3 Lakh

Neeta Lulla designed a gorgeous and beautiful dress fro Esha Deol. It was a Kanjeevaram saree which happened to be a reflection of Indian bridal culture. It was very attractive with red and gold work. She paired her look with gold, emerald and diamond jewelry.

Deepika Padukone marriage wear by Sabyasachi worth of 10 lakhs rupeees

Priyanka Marriage wear by Sabyasachi worth of 18 lakhs

Who are the most talented and underrated actresses in India?

 10 Brilliant Supporting Actresses In Bollywood Who Deserve More Spotlight Than The Leads

Lead actors and actresses in Bollywood movies may usually be put on a pedestal but when it comes to acting prowess and talent, some supporting actresses have won our hearts. Take a look at some of the most underrated Bollywood divas whom we’ve loved more than the “heroines”:

1. Sayani Gupta

The Bong powerhouse of acting is simply flawless. Period. Although she’s rising up the Bollywood ranks pretty fast, we want her to make her presence felt in the industry!

2. Kubra Sait

Kubra broke a lot of gender stereotypes with her jaw-dropping portrayal of Kuckoo in Sacred Games and we know that she has more to offer than just be a supporting actress for big productions. We want to see her in more movies!

3. Dia Mirza

Dia has been around for a while now and has made a special place in all our hearts but somehow has never been the centre of attention despite owning all the qualities for it. This woman deserves so much more!

4. Divya Dutta

A phenomenal actress, Divya has always been casted for supporting roles and seldom played the part of a protagonist. We genuinely think she’s proven her worth well enough to be under the spotlight.

5. Maanvi Gagroo

Very confidently breaking the stereotypical standards of beauty in Bollywood, Maanvi is our body positive icon and a tremendously good actress. Can we see more of her already?

6. Kalki Koechlin

She’s made her presence felt way too many times for us to ignore what a powerful force she is in the film industry. Kalki deserves to be on our movie and TV screens 24x7 and we’re not even exaggerating!

7. Radhika Apte

Netflix is obsessed with Radhika and so are we. What’s not to love about this gorgeous and immensely versatile actress? She’s one of the only few actresses who genuinely deserve way more recognition and stardom than the existing heroines.

8. Amrita Puri

The Kai Po Che! and Aisha star is an effortless actor when it comes to her body language and acting. We wish to see her in more prominent roles though.

9. Richa Chaddha

Richa has become a household name for all those accustomed to the world of web series but mainstream viewers with conventional choices are yet to discover her massive yet amazing presence.

10. Rasika Duggal

Mirzapur famed Rasika has been around for years but has admitted to being approached only for supporting roles. For all those who’ve watched her on screen know that she’s a brilliant actress and deserves more!