Parineeti, Taapsee and others: 10 Bollywood actors who gave up lucrative jobs for movies

The new crop of Bollywood actors give as much of an importance to education as their acting careers.

Here is a list of top 10 highly educated Bollywood stars who left their well-paid jobs to pursue their passion in acting.

Parineeti Chopra

This Bollywood beauty has always awed us with her amazing acting skills and brilliant performances on big screen. At the age of 17, Parineeti moved to London, where she received a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom. While studying, she worked part-time for the Manchester United Football Club as the team leader of the catering department. Before Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl came her way, she also worked in the marketing department of Yash Raj Films Studio as public relations consultant.

Vicky Kaushal

The young and talented Vicky Kaushal graduated as an electronics and telecommunications engineer in 2009. He had job offers during the campus interview and was selected in a reputed firm, but as he aspired to become an actor, he refused the job offer and got involved with theatre. He joined an acting workshop under Kishore Namit Kapoor and went on to do roles in films like Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and Bombay Velvet. In 2010, he assisted Anurag Kashyap on the two-part film Gangs of Wasseypur. Neeraj Ghaywan was also one of the assistant directors in the film. When Neeraj began to work on his film Masaan, Kaushal too was called for an audition and bagged the role that won him accolades by one and many.

Ayushmann Khurana

Ayushmann studied at St. John’s High School and DAV College in Chandigarh. He majored in English literature and has a master’s degree in Mass Communication from School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, in Chandigarh. He did serious theatre for five years and started off his career as a popular radio jockey, and eventually became a VJ on MTV India and one of the most popular hosts in India. He shot to stardom with the runaway hit, Vicky Donor in 2012. His effortless act in his debut won him rave reviews and the film went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year.

John Abraham

John Abraham is one of the most valued actors in Bollywood. Whether it is his passion for bikes, his films or his physique, everything the actor does is news in B-town. He studied at Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai and got his bachelor’s degree in economics from Jai Hind College. Thereafter he earned a Masters in Management Sciences from Mumbai Educational Trust in 1998. John Abraham tried his hands at modelling, but then to earn his bread and butter he worked for an ad agency called Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.

Taapsee Pannu

Taapsee Pannu has quietly carved her own niche in Bollywood Industry. After completing her graduation in Computer Science Engineering from Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology in New Delhi, she worked as a software engineer. She auditioned and was selected for Channel V’s talent show Get Gorgeous, which eventually led her to acting. Last year she played the lead role in Pink which has in a way turned her fortunes.

Sonakshi Sinha

Sonakshi Sinha has become a big name in Bollywood industry in a span of few years. The talented actress did her schooling at Arya Vidya Mandir and later studied Designing at Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women’s University in Mumbai. Sonakshi started her career as a costume designer and has done styling for films Mera Dil Leke Deko. She walked the ramp at the Lakme Fashion Week before making her acting debut in Salman Khan-starrer Dabangg which led her to win the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Randeep Hooda

The Sarbjit actor also has a handful of degrees hidden behind his acting prowess and strong and silent charm in the industry. After his schooling in DPS, R K Puram, Delhi, he went to Melbourne for higher studies and has both a bachelors and a masters’ degree in business management and human resource management. After his return to India, he was working in a marketing firm before he made his Bollywood debut in Monsoon Wedding in 2001, garnering praise for his performance.

Sayani Gupta

After her graduation, Sayani took up a job with an infrastructure research firm Indian Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd in New Delhi where she dabbled in marketing and sales, but finding no time to indulge in the real profession she had always dreamed of—theatre—she decided to chase her passion instead. She took admission in The Film and Television Institute of India, Pune where she specialised in acting for a full three years. Thereafter, she moved to Mumbai in September 2011 to pursue her passion and made her debut with “Margarita with a straw”, which has been globally acclaimed and created a huge buzz in numerous film festivals.

Riteish Deshmukh

Multi-talented Riteish Deshmukh, who is not only an actor but also a producer, is an architect by profession. He completed his education from G D Somani High School and graduated in Architecture and Environmental Studies from Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute. After completing his graduation he worked in architectural firm in New York. Along with this, he also took up a course in acting at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute. The passionate architect-actor has started his own architectural and interior designing firm named Revolutions.

Ranveer Singh

The crazy Ranveer Singh always wanted to be an actor from his childhood days. He completed his education from H R College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai, and went to the United States to pursue Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. He came back to Mumbai in 2007 and before trying his luck in films, he worked for few years as copywriter with premier ad agencies like O&M and JWT. Later, Ranveer made his debut with Yash Raj Films Band Baaja Baaraat opposite Anushka Sharma. There has been no looking back since then.

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