Pankaj Tripathi Was A Cook, Parineeti Chopra A PR Consultant: You Won’t Believe What These Stars Did Before Fame

Before Pankaj Tripathi became Kaleen Bhaiya in Mirzapurhe spent his nights working in a hotel kitchen in Patna. Parineeti Chopra, meanwhile, was handling PR and marketing work at Yash Raj Films before she ever faced the camera as an actor.

Their journeys into Bollywood looked nothing alike. And they are not the only ones. Nawazuddin Siddiqui worked as a chemist, Boman Irani spent years in hospitality and photography, and Arshad Warsi found his way into films after working in sales and building a career in dance.

Here is a look at what these eight familiar faces were doing before Bollywood came calling.

Pankaj Tripathi Worked In A Hotel Kitchen Before Finding Fame

Pankaj Tripathi’s journey to becoming one of Hindi cinema’s most recognisable character actors took time. Long before Mirzapur made him a household name, he studied hotel management and worked in a hotel kitchen in Patna. He worked night shifts at Hotel Maurya while continuing to pursue theatre. Some accounts describe his job as that of a cook, while others identify him as a kitchen supervisor.

Acting remained the bigger ambition. Tripathi eventually moved to Delhi to train at the National School of Drama, but success did not arrive overnight. He appeared in smaller roles for years before Gangs of Wasseypur brought him wider attention in 2012.

Parineeti Chopra Worked In PR Before Becoming An Actor

Parineeti Chopra already had a job in the film industry before she became an actor. She joined Yash Raj Films as a marketing intern and later worked as a PR consultant. Her work included handling publicity involving actors such as Anushka Sharma. It meant she was familiar with the business of promoting films and stars before stepping in front of the camera herself.

That changed with Ladies vs Ricky Bahl in 2011. Chopra went on to take leading roles in films such as Ishaqzaade and Shuddh Desi Romanceleaving her PR days behind.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui Was A Chemist Before Turning To Acting

Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s life before films was a long way from the characters audiences know him for today. After studying science, he worked as a chemist in Vadodara for about a year. He later moved to Delhi and got involved in theatre, eventually training at the National School of Drama. Making a living while chasing acting was another challenge. Siddiqui took on odd jobs, including work as a watchman, though accounts differ on where he held that job.

The film industry did not hand him overnight success either. He spent years playing smaller parts, with films such as Black Friday and Peepli Live helping him gain notice. Gangs of Wasseypur took that recognition further.

Boman Irani Worked At The Taj Mahal Palace And Ran His Family’s Shop

Boman Irani did not enter mainstream cinema until later in life. Before audiences came to know him through Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., 3 Idiots and Donhe had already spent years working in different fields. He worked for around two years as a waiter and in-room service staff at Mumbai’s Taj Mahal Palace hotel. After that, he helped run the bakery and namkeen shop managed by his mother. It was not a brief stopgap job; he spent years involved in the business.

Photography was another part of his life before acting. Irani photographed school sports events and later worked on boxing photography. His eventual move into films came after years spent building experience well outside a conventional acting career.

Akshay Kumar Worked As A Chef And Waiter In Bangkok

Akshay Kumar’s early years are better known than some of the other stories on this list, but they are still a striking contrast to his career today. Before becoming a Bollywood star, he worked as a chef and waiter in Bangkok. He also learnt martial arts while living there, a skill that would later become central to his image as an action hero.

Kumar made his acting debut with Saugandh in 1991. Over the years, he moved well beyond action films, taking on comedy, drama and socially themed stories.

Ranveer Singh Had Advertising Experience Before His Film Debut

Ranveer Singh’s pre-Bollywood career involved advertising rather than acting. He has spoken about working as a copywriter, including stints at agencies Ogilvy and JWT. It was a different kind of creative work from what he does on screen today, but it gave him experience in communication and developing ideas. He eventually turned to acting, making his debut in Band Baaja Baaraat in 2010.

The film put him on the map. Roles in Bajirao Mastani, Padmaavat and Gully Boy later showed how far his career had moved from his days in advertising.

Johnny Walker Was A BEST Bus Conductor

Johnny Walker’s route into Hindi cinema began on the streets of Bombay, where he worked as a bus conductor for BEST. Born Badruddin Jamaluddin Kazi, he reportedly entertained passengers with his comic timing and way of announcing bus stops. His knack for making people laugh eventually helped him get noticed.

Actor Balraj Sahni introduced him to filmmaker Guru Dutt, a meeting that opened the door to films. Walker appeared in Potatoes in 1951 and went on to become one of Hindi cinema’s best-known comic actors. He died in 2003, but his journey from a bus conductor’s uniform to the big screen remains one of the industry’s memorable career turns.

Arshad Warsi Sold Cosmetics Before Becoming A Dancer And Choreographer

Arshad Warsi was earning money long before he became known as Circuit in the Munna Bhai films. He worked as a door-to-door cosmetics salesman at 17 and later took a job in a photo lab. Dance eventually changed the direction of his career. Warsi joined a dance group, developed his skills and found work as a dancer and choreographer. He also took part in dance competitions before moving into acting.

His film debut came with My dreams in 1996. Years later, his performance as Circuit would become one of his most recognisable roles, but his path to that character began with jobs far removed from a film set.

Before The Fame, There Were Other Jobs

Not every Bollywood career starts with an acting audition. For these eight stars, the road to films ran through hotel kitchens, advertising agencies, shops, photography assignments and dance studios. Some of those jobs helped pay the bills; others gave them skills they carried into their later careers. Either way, their lives before fame looked very different from the ones audiences see on screen today.

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