Real names of Indian actors

They say what's in a name? Well, our Bollywood stars believe there is a lot to it! Many believe it is their name that connects better with the followers. Indian film industry is flooded with actors who prefer to use a different stage name, some for a numerological purpose, others just to have an easier name for fans to remember. And if you thought this trend of rechristening oneself before entering movies was some decades-old trend, wait until we tell you who all from the contemporary actors were born with different names. Scroll on to see the real names of actors.

We agree Amitabh Bachchan's name has a lot of weight. But, if he kept his real name - 'Inquilab Srivastava', do you think there would've been a lot more weight to it?

Salman Khan is a shorter version of his actual name - Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan.

Does Bhanurekha Ganeshan sound better for her?

We all know Rajinikanth, who rules Tamil cinema was born in Maharashtra. His real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad. Interestingly, Anil Kapoor used the name Shivaji Rao in his 2001 hit film Nayak.

Baahubali star Prabhas uses a short version of his actual name - Venkata Satyanarayana Prabhas Raju Uppalapati. Can we thank him for doing that, please?

Madhubala, one of the most beautiful female actors Bollywood has ever had, had a rather heavy name too.

Mithun Chakraborty isn't his real name!

The lady superstar of Tamil films, Nayanthara's real name is Diana Mariam Kuriyan.

Katrina Turquotte came to Bollywood from London and reportedly on the advice of Ayesha Shroff (Jackie Shroff's wife), she changed her surname to Kaif to make it easier for the Indian audience.

The real 'He-Man' of Bollywood, Dharmendra's actual name is Dharam Singh Deol and that's where his children get the surname from.

She might have got a film made on her life titled The Dirty Picture starring Vidya Balan, but Silk Smitha's real name is Vijayalakshmi Vadlapati.

Govinda is just a shorter version of Govind Arun Ahuja.

The man of tragedy films, Guru Dutt is an icon today. How would it be if he used his real name - Vasanth Kumar Shivshankar Padukone? And well, he is nowhere related to Deepika Padukone!

All through the promotions of her films, her fellow actors and directors call her Sweety and thus we know what Anushka Shetty's real name is.

He was given the name of Farhan Abraham at birth by his mother, and his father called him John. He stuck to John Abraham when debuting in films.

The master of comedy, Johnny Lever is John Prakasa Rao Janumala in reality.

Yesteryear diva and late actor Sridevi's real name was Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan.

Dhanush's parentage controversy might still be lingering, but we know for sure what his real name is.

Yesteryear superstar Dev Anand's name was never this easy.

We would've loved Tabassum Hashmi Khan if Tabu had retained her real name.

Chunky Pandey is known to tickle our funny bones. But guess what his real name is? It is Suyush Sharat Chandrakant Deshpandey.

Akshay Kumar had to give away his real name Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia which later inspired the name of his production banner - Hari Om Entertainment.

Ashwini Shetty became Shilpa Shetty after her astrologer mother thought this name change would bring her more luck in films.

Like father, like son... After Jai Kishan Kakubhai preferred to do films as Jackie Shroff, his son Jai Hemant Shroff choose Tiger Shroff.

Tamil cinema heartthrob Saravanan Sivakumar uses a stage name of Suriya. We would've loved him even if he hadn't changed his name, right?

Sunny Leone had to change her name from Karenjit Kaur Vohra to suit her work profile.