South Indians who made it big in B'wood

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New Delhi: Rajinikanth was born into a Marathi family, worked as a bus conductor in Karnataka, and then went on to become the superstar of Tamil films.

Having starred in over 160 movies Rajini however failed to create the same magic up beyond the Vindhyas. In fact most south Indian actors have failed to make a mark in Bollywood.

Kerala's superstar Mohanlal has only character roles in Company and now Ram Gopal Varma Ke Sholay for his stint Bollywood.

Andhra stars Chiranjeevi and Venkatesh failed to win over Bollywood with just one successful Hindi film each.

Kamala Hassan is perhaps the only south Indian actor who not only managed lead roles in Bollywood but also some box office success with Ek Duje Ke Liye, Sadma, Saagar, Chachi 420 and more recently Hey Ram.

But is Kamala a bankable Bollywood star? Perhaps not. More recently R Madhavan who almost arrived in with Rehna Hai Tere Dil Main, went on to play second fiddle in Rang De Basanti and most recently Guru.

But south Indian actresses have always charmed the Bollywood box-office. While Vyajanthimala, a Tamilian, went on to become the reigning queen of Bollywood in the 50s with hits like Devdas, Madhumati and Naya Daur, Hema Malini took over the mantle in the 70s and became Bollywood's dream girl with hits like Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and continues to do so with the recent Baghbaan.

Rekha also continues to be a veteran to reckon with having ruled in the late 70s and 80s with blockbusters like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Silsila and Umrao Jaan.

Sridevi's Hindi speaking lessons also paid off with hits like Mr India and Chaalbaaz.

It's a success that continues till date with Aishwarya Rai who wowed audiences with Guru and is counted among Bollywood A listers with films like Jodha-Akbar and Sarkar 2 under her belt.