From Dhanush to Dulquer Salmaan and Rakul Preet Singh, several south stars have tried their hand at expanding their fanbase by entering into the Hindi market. While some have succeeded, others are still trying to find their place in Bollywood.

Pooja Hegde

Pooja Hegde made her Bollywood debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker’s 2016 period film Mohenjo Daro, which unfortunately bombed at the box office. The actress returned to the Hindi film industry after a gap of three years with Sajid Nadiadwala’s comedy film Housefull 4 in which she played Rajkumari Mala and Pooja (reincarnated version of Mala). The film was a huge success but it didn’t generate much noise around her performance. Meanwhile, Pooja has some big-budget south films in her kitty. She was recently roped in opposite Thalapathy Vijay in Thalapathy65. She is doing Radhe Shyam with Baahubali star Prabhas. She is also the leading lady of Ram Charan in Acharya. Pooja has also signed Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus opposite Ranveer Singh.

Kajal Aggarwal

Kajal was supposed to make her acting debut with Bollywood film Kyun Ho Gaya Na in 2004 but the film got delayed and released only in late 2008. She soon moved to the Telugu film industry where she delivered several successful films including Chandamama, Magadheera, Ganesh Just Ganesh, Arya 2, Darling and Businessman. She also went on to appear in a series of Tamil super hits such as Naan Mahaan Alla, Thuppakki and Maari. The actress made her Bollywood comeback after seven years with a leading role in cop drama Singham, a remake of the same-titled 2010 Tamil film, opposite Ajay Devgn. Even though the film received a decent response at the box office, Kajal failed to make her presence felt in the movie. She was also seen in Neeraj Pandey’s Special 26 and Sanjay Gupta’s recent gangster crime drama Mumbai Saga, but both the films failed to boost her Bollywood career.

Rakul Preet Singh

Rakul Preet Singh is one of the most sought-after actresses down South, thanks to her commercially successful films such as Venkatadri Express, Current Theega, Rough, Loukyam, Kick 2, Sarrainodu, Nannaku Prematho, Dhruva, Spyder and Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru. The actress tried her luck in Bollywood with the 2013 film Yaariyan, which opened to mostly negative reviews. Rakul Preet returned to the Hindi cinema with Neeraj Pandey’s Aiyaary in 2018, but unfortunately, the film was a major flop. In 2019, she finally got her breakthrough role in Bollywood with Luv Ranjan’s rom-com, De De Pyaar De, which earned positive reviews for her. Following the massive success of De De Pyaar De, Rakul appeared in Milap Milan Zaveri’s Hindi action drama Marjaavaan, which received negative reviews from critics.

Tamannaah Bhatia

Tamannaah is one of the highest-paid actresses in the southern film industry. Her blockbuster films include Veeram, Dharma Durai, Devi, Sketch, 100% Love, Oosaravelli, Racha, Thadaka, Baahubali: The Beginning, Bengal Tiger, Oopiri, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, F2: Fun and Frustration, and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy. However, the actress is yet to establish herself in Hindi cinema. Tamannaah has been a part of Hindi films like Himmatwala, Entertainment and Humshakals but all of them were panned by critics and became box-office disasters.

Pranitha Subhash

Pranitha Subhash is a prominent face down South. She has been a part of several commercially successful Telugu and Tamil films including Baava, Attarintiki Daredi, Massu Engira Masilamani and Enakku Vaaitha Adimaigal. The actress is currently gearing up for the release of her Bollywood debut Hungama 2, directed by Priyadarshan.

Rashmika Mandanna

Rashmika Mandanna is all set to make her Bollywood debut with Sidharth Malhotra in Mission Majnu. The film will be the directorial debut of Shantanu Bagchi. Rashmika has been fortunate to receive love from audiences across languages as she has been a part of several Kannada and Telugu blockbusters including Kirik Party, Anjani Putra, Chamak, Chalo, Geetha Govindam, Yajamana, Sarileru Neekevvaru and Bheeshma. Even before the release of her Bollywood debut, Rashmika has already signed another Hindi film opposite Amitabh Bachchan. Titled Goodbye, the film tells the story of a father and daughter. It’ll be interesting to see whether Rashmika is able to spellbind the Hindi audience with her acting talent.