Shruti Mahajan’s List of Underrated Actors (Listed Alphabetically)

Amruta, an acclaimed Indian actress who works in films, television, and theater, most recently starred in Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy. She is a graduate from the National School of Drama, New Delhi. She made a splashing debut with the National Award winning film and India's Oscar entry for the year, Shwaas. She has won a National Award and a Filmfare Award for role in Astu, as a supporting actress. She has starred in numerous critically acclaimed films that have won different awards across the world, such as Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and Fedeora Award at the Venice Film Festival. She is also a trained classical singer who has lent her voice to various Marathi films. For her playback singing, she's won awards like Maharashtra Government State Award for the film Nital. Recently, she starred in Selection Day, a Netflix Original and Chausar opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Amruta was a part of the recently released Sacred Games S2 where her role as raw agent was praised particularly.

Anjali Patil (born 26 September 1987) is an international film and theater actress. She has earned rave reviews for her work in Delhi in a Day, Chakravyuh and Sri Lankan film With You Without You. She received the Silver Peacock Award for Best Actress at International Film Festival of India in Goa in November 2012 for With You Without You.In 2013, she was starred in the Telugu film, Na Bangaaru Talli for which she has received the National Film Award - Special Mention.

Patil was born in Mahrsahtra,India. Patil attended a local high school and by age 14, she had decided to pursue acting as her career. She persuaded her parents to send her to Center for Performing Arts at University of Pune. In June 2007, she earned Bachelor's Degree in Arts with a gold medal for her excellence. Later that year, Patil was chosen to pursue Masters in Theater Design at National School of Drama in New Delhi.

Patil is trained in various indian martial arts/ dance forms like Kalari, Chhau and Thang-Ta. She is also trained in Indian classical dance form,Kathak but has shifted her focus to contemporary body works.

Bhuvan Arora is an Indian actor born and raised in Delhi. His father, S.L. Arora, was an officer in the Indian Army, and his mother, Sneh Lata Arora, was an employee in a government organisation. He has one sibling, an elder sister, Deepti Arora. He started schooling in Manav Sthali School and later moved to an Armed Naval Public School in Chanakyapuri. From an early age, Bhuvan began to participate in extra-curricular activities and enjoyed doing theatre the most. He found his passion in the performing arts. Later, he graduated with B.Com (Honors) from PGDAV college, Delhi University. He was also the president of the cultural society and an active member of the theatre group. After winning multiple awards at Delhi University for Nukkad Natak (street theatre), he decided to pursue acting professionally, but before that, he wanted to learn the craft in detail. Hence, he decided to apply to India's most premium film school, the Film and Television Institute of India, commonly known as FTII, Pune. Despite the competition, Bhuvan impressed the jury and bagged admission to the institute. He studied acting under the guidance of stalwarts like Naseeruddin Shah, Saurabh Shukla,Kamal Haasan, and many more respected film fraternity members. He worked as an actor in more than 60 student films. Bhuvan then moved to Mumbai. He started auditioning regularly and managed to bag advertisements and episodic television programs. Shanoo Sharma, the casting director at YRF, discovered him. He did his first film, A Pure Desi Romance (2013), with director Maneesh Sharma alongside Sushant Singh Rajput, Rishi Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, and Vaani Kapoor. His part was appreciated unanimously by the audience and the critics, leading to his next film with director Amit Ravindernath Sharma called Tevar (2015). Post that, Bhuvan has been a part of multiple films and web shows such as Dedh Ishqiya (2014), The Test Case (2018), Naam Shabana (2017), Bank Chor (2017), Jai Mummy Di (2020), Haathi Mere Saathi (2021), Chaman Bahaar (2020), and many more. Apart from that, Bhuvan has been a part of over 50 advertisements and multiple short films. One of his short films Rogan Josh (2018) won the Filmfare award for Best Short Film. However, his breakthrough performance came with Amazon Prime Video's TV series Farzi (2023) directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K., where he played Firoz's character, which was widely celebrated by the audiences, and he earned many accolades from the critics as well.

Chandrachoor Rai is known for Tiger 3 (2023), Kadakh (2019) and Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015).

Chhaya Kadam is an Indian actress known for her powerful and naturalistic performances across Marathi, Hindi, and regional cinema. Emerging from a strong foundation in theatre, she built her craft through diverse stage roles before transitioning to film, where her authenticity and emotional depth quickly drew attention. Over the years, she has portrayed a wide range of characters-from socially rooted, hard-hitting roles to memorable parts in critically acclaimed films-earning praise from audiences and filmmakers alike.

Her screen presence is defined by raw intensity, expressive storytelling, and an ability to bring remarkable truth to every character she inhabits. Alongside her work in mainstream cinema, she continues to remain connected to independent and content-driven projects, making her one of the most respected and versatile performers in contemporary Indian cinema.

Geetanjali Kulkarni was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She is known for Gullak (2019), Court (2014) and Taj Mahal 1989 (2020).

Hitesh Bhojraj is an Indian actor, singer and voice-artist. He was born in Mumbai and completed MBA in Marketing before making his foray into the entertainment industry.

The versatile artist began his theatre journey with Thespo featuring in Being Sartak Majumdar nearly a decade back. Hitesh never looked back and went on to work with well-known directors like Rehaan Engineer, Sunil Shanbag, Vikranth Pawar, Quasar Padamsee, Purva Naresh, Shruti Sharma, among others.

He earned decent recognition and accolades for his work. Owing to this, he played a part in many popular projects. He was Gaston in Disney's Beauty And The Beast. The maverick artist also featured as Genie for Disney's Aladdin besides being the lead in Wizcraft's musical Balle Balle.

He was part of 2 Aadyam shows besides acting in 8 musicals till date. Hitesh made his debut alongside Bobby Deol in Class of '83, playing the role of a cop named Vishnu Varde. He became an instant hit among the masses.

He portrayed the character of a local gangster in the second season of Ek Thi Begum before acting in another MX player show Dharavi Bank. He was part of the primary cast in both the shows.

He has been the face of brands for television commercials and print campaigns. He is the voice behind top brands like SuperDry, Mastercard, Samsung, Century Ply to name a few.

His podcasts 'I Hear You' on Spotify and 'Mission Indians' on Audible are very famous. Hitesh's recent projects include Raanti, a Marathi film releasing on 22nd November 2024.

Rajshri Deshpande is an Indian actress and activist known for her powerful performances in film and television across Hindi, Marathi, and English-language projects. She gained international recognition with her portrayal of Laxmi in Pan Nalin’s TIFF Audience Choice film Angry Indian Goddesses. This was followed by the titular role of Durga in S Durga, which won the Hivos Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival. She played Manju in BBC One’s Emmy award-winning British television show McMafia, directed by James Watkins. Rajshri received critical acclaim for her performance as Subhadra in Netflix India’s most successful series to date, the Emmy-nominated Sacred Games, created by Vikram Motwane and directed by Anurag Kashyap. In 2018, the film Manto premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, where Rajshri portrayed Urdu novelist Ismat Chughtai. In 2021, she played a key role in the Netflix show The Fame Game. In 2023, she starred in the Netflix limited series Trial by Fire (directed by Prashant Nair), which was one of the top ten most watched shows on Netflix in eight countries. Rajshri received the Best Actress (Series) award for Trial by Fire at the Asian Academy Creative Awards in Singapore, which recognizes excellence in the film and television industry across 16 nations in the Asia-Pacific region. She has received nine more awards in India, including Filmfare, Film Companion Gold, and seven other prestigious awards. In 2024, she starred in the Marathi film Satyashodhak, based on social reformer Savitri Bai Phule. The film was super hit in Maharashtra and was made tax-free. Rajshri received the 2025 NDTV Best Actress award for this role. In 2025, she received critical accolades for her performance in the Netflix show Black Warrant, directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Rajshri recently finished an international SAG AFRA project as a co-producer and actor, starring Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi) as another lead alongside her. She also completed the independent film Hawks with Barun Sobti, directed by Deepankar Prakash, and another Malayalam film with director Abrid Shine. In 2025, Rajshri served as a feature film jury for the IFFLA film festival in Los Angeles. She also served as jury for the Asian Academy Creative Awards in Singapore and as a Mumbai Film Festival short film jury alongside Hansal Mehta. Her latest 2026 Marathi film BAAPYA features Rajshri in the key role of Shailaja (later Shailesh), a character who undergoes a sex change in a trans-identity story set in coastal Dapoli. Directed by Sameer Tewari, the comedy-drama released on 15 May 2026. In addition to acting, Rajshri devotes considerable time to social service. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, she worked with an international NGO in Nepal. In 2015, she adopted the drought-prone village of Pandhari in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, where she organized a rainwater harvesting project, built toilets, conducted health checkups and community motivation camps, and built an Eco-sensitive school. Encouraged by this success, she adopted 30 more villages in the region. In 2018, she founded the nonprofit Nabhangan Foundation to broaden her efforts toward sustainable village development. Since its creation, Nabhangan has empowered villages to reach self-reliance, including transitioning four Zilla Parishad Schools into Eco-friendly, sustainable buildings. In 2024, Rajshri received a fellowship from the University of Michigan, where she served as guest faculty/mentor for PhD students during a six-week program. Rajshri is a law graduate who worked in advertising for six years before transitioning to acting. She hails from humble beginnings, raised in a family of farmers. She is currently based in Mumbai, India, and Los Angeles.

Rasika Dugal was born in Jamshedpur and did her schooling from Sacred Heart Convent. She pursued a bachelors degree in Mathematics (Hons) from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi. After completing her bachelors, she attended the Sophia Polytechnic (Mumbai) for a Post Graduate Diploma in 'Social Communications Media' and then went on to pursue a Post Graduate Diploma in Acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII, Pune).

Rasika has played significant roles in films, original series and short films, exploring the nuances of diverse characters in artistically challenging and socially relevant productions. She is known for her performance in feature films 'Manto' (directed by Nandita Das), 'Hamid' (directed by Aijaz Khan), 'Qissa' (directed by Anup Singh), 'Kshay'( directed by Karan Gour), Lootcase (directed by Rajesh Krishnan) and short films 'Chutney', 'The School Bag' and 'Banana Bread'.

In digital series, her varied roles as the feisty Beena Tripathi in 'Mirzapur' (Amazon Prime), the idealistic cop Neeti Singh in 'Delhi Crime' (Netflix) have won her many accolades and much popularity amongst audiences. She was also seen in 'Out of love' (Hotstar) headlining the series as Dr Meera Kapoor.

She enjoys reading Urdu poetry, learning music and listening to podcasts. She lives in Mumbai.

Sandesh is an actor and director known for his work in Marathi cinema. He has given powerful performances in films such as Shwet, Lucky Man and Coffee Ani Barach Kaahi. He made his directorial debut with the film Masala starring Girish Kulkarni. Sandesh also played a role in Netflix's popular original, Sense8. He starred in the comedy film Cycle and was seen in the second season of Sacred Games, ITV's Good Karma Hospital, Disney+ Hotstar's Hundred and Golden Cush. He was seen in Amazon's Mumbai Diaries 26/11, his performance as the hotheaded ACP Tawde was appreciated by both critics and audiences and Anjali Menon's Wonder Women.

Shreya Dhanwantary, is an Indian actress, model and author who works predominantly in the Hindi and Tamil film industries. After her birth, Dhanwanthary's family moved to Dubai, where she spent most of her childhood. She was raised in both the Middle East and Delhi before graduating with a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NIT Warangal.

When she first moved to Mumbai, Dhanwantary appeared in many commercials for popular brands like Fastrack, Samsung, Safi, Vogue Eyewear, and D'damas to support herself financially.

Before entering the film industry, Dhanwantary participated in the Pantaloons Femina Miss India South in 2008, where she was the first runner-up. The same year, she also participated in the Miss India contest, where she was one of the finalists.

Dhanwantary's acting career began when she got her first break in the Telugu movie Sneha Geetham (2010) in 2010. However, she made her Bollywood debut in Why Cheat India (2019), starring alongside Emraan Hashmi.

She was later recognized for her appearance in the web series [link=tt8555892, where she played the role of Devanshi Taylor. Dhanwantary also garnered attention for her role as Zoya in the Amazon Prime web series The Family Man (2019). She even won the Fan Favourite Supporting Actress Award at the Indian Telly Streaming Awards for her role in Mumbai Diaries (2021).

Her role as journalist Sucheta Dalal in Sony LIV's web series Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) earned her several nominations and critical acclaim. She was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her films Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) and Looop Lapeta (2022), respectively, for the Filmfare OTT Awards. She won the Hit List OTT Awards and The Indian Film and Television Awards in the Best Actor-Female category for her role in Scam 1992.

Alongside her acting career, Dhanwantary is also a writer and author of the novel 'Fade to White', published in 2016. Dhanwantary also wrote, directed, produced, and even acted in the first-of-its-kind zoom show called the Viral Wedding.

Sunny has burst upon the Indian film scene in recent years with several noteworthy performances in key roles.

He played the lead role of 'Rustom' in Director Ajita Suchitra Veera's Ballad of Rustom, which was shortlisted as a possible Best Picture for the 2014 Academy Awards out of 3,000 films released globally.

He also featured in the action packed science fiction series Seven produced by the preeminent company Yash Raj Films' TV division.

In 2014, Sunny played a key role in the dramatic film In the Name of Jihad (aka Aasma), directed by the award-winning director Sudipto Sen.

In 2017 Sunny collaborated with Pakistani filmmaker Shazia Ali Khan on a feature film "Pinky Memsaab" where he was appreciated for his role of Santosh. The film won audience choice awards at the UK Asian Film Festival. In the digital series, his role as Sandeep Bhaiya in TVF's Aspirants & Vicky Meheshwari in "Chacha VIdhayak Hain Humare" have won him much popularity amongst the audience. Sunny was also seen in "The Family Man" as Milind.

Screen actress Tillotama Shome is best known for her acclaimed portrayal of Alice in Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding. She played a pivotal role as Deepa in director Florian Gallenberger's epic Shadows of Time (Schatten der Zeit) and appeared as Lara in Meneka Das's Little Box of Sweets; Jaya in Afia Nathaniel's short film Long After; and Miraal in Tanuj Chopra's Butterfly.

When previously based in New York, in addition to her on-screen acting accomplishments, Tillotama Shome worked as a teaching artist at Creative Arts Team/City University of New York. CUNY/CAT uses theatre as a medium to promote social, emotional and intellectual growth in communities throughout New York City to explore a wide range of issues including peer pressure, violence, sexuality, substance abuse, parenting, and HIV/AIDS prevention. Her work in particular also involved working with prison inmates at Rikers Island and women in domestic shelters. Tillotama Shome has bachelors and masters degrees in English literature from India and a second masters from New York University in Educational Theatre.

Vineet Kumar Singh, born in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, is a versatile Indian actor, writer, and producer. Known for his powerful performances and dedication to his craft, Vineet has made a significant impact on the Indian film industry.

Vineet Kumar Singh's journey into the world of entertainment began with a passion for sports, particularly boxing. He was a national-level basketball player and later pursued a career in boxing. Vineet's connection to sports played a crucial role in shaping his early years and even influenced his later work.

He made his acting debut in the Bollywood film "Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii" (2007) but gained prominence with his breakthrough performance in Anurag Kashyap's "Gangs of Wasseypur" (2012). Vineet played the role of Danish Khan, a character that showcased his acting prowess and marked him as a talent to watch.

Vineet Kumar Singh's dedication to his craft extended beyond acting. He took on the role of a producer for the critically acclaimed film "Mukkabaaz" (2017), in which he also played the lead role. The film, directed by Anurag Kashyap, explored themes of caste discrimination and the struggles of an aspiring boxer. Vineet received widespread acclaim for his performance and the film's success.

Apart from his work in mainstream cinema, Vineet has been associated with various independent and regional films. He has demonstrated his versatility in films like "Bard of Blood" (2019), a Netflix original series, and "Betaal" (2020), where he played pivotal roles.

Vineet Kumar Singh's dedication to his craft, combined with his ability to portray diverse characters, has earned him respect and admiration in the industry.

Zahan Kapoor was born on 11 March 1992 in Mumbai, Mahrashtra. He is an actor, known for Black Warrant (2025), Dilkashi and Faraaz (2022).