In show bizz, people attach too much significance to superstitions. This explains why many actresses have been called the bearer of bad luck after their films got shelved or flopped. Of course, the success of a film is not dependent on just one person and there is no logic behind this superstition. Yet, some actors had to live with the unsavoury tag after initial failures in their career. Let’s talk about some of these actresses who had to bear the burden of being called ‘unlucky’ in the film industry:
Taapsee Pannu
There was a time when filmmakers avoided Taapsee Pannu simply because she had a dry spell in her film career. Before she made it to Bollywood, the actress was working in the Telugu film industry and that didn’t turn out great. In an interview, Taapsee shared, “Everyone started calling me an unlucky girl and an unlucky charm because a couple of my films in Telugu did not work.”
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan is considered to be one of the most gifted stars in Bollywood but that wasn’t always the case. When the actress was in college, Vidya was cast as the female lead in director Kamal’s Chakram. Later she was offered 12 other films but her first film got shelved. This started a Domino effect and she lost all her projects as she was believed to be a ‘bad omen’.
Shruti Haasan
When Shruti Haasan made her debut with the Telugu flick Anaganaga O Dheerudu, everyone thought it will be a massive hit. But the film failed to work at the box office. Unfortunately, this was enough for filmmakers to shun her. In a March 2021 interview, the actress opened up about the same. Shruti said, “I remember during my first Telugu film, they used to call me iron leg and she is unlucky and the common factor between my first 2 films was the same Hero but nobody was ever willing to say that maybe these films didn’t work because of him.“
Manisha Koirala
Manisha Koirala had a glorious beginning to her Bollywood with Saudagar in 1991. However, the actress then delivered a number of commercial flops and was tagged ‘unlucky’. While it was a tough time for her, she didn’t lose hope and made a memorable comeback with 1942: A Love Story.
Pooja Hegde
For a while many believed, Pooja Hegde will be the pan-India superstar. After all, she was working on big-budget projects in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu film industries. However, after a series of failures, everyone started calling the actress ‘unlucky’. In April 2023 Pooja reacted to the tag of being ‘unlucky’ in an interview. She shared, “Every film has its destiny. People say what they have to say and I take everything with a pinch of salt. When God gave me 6 big blockbuster films back to back, that’s something insane.“
A film’s success or failure doesn’t lie on the shoulders of an actress. It is incredibly insensitive to call someone ‘unlucky’ simply ‘coz of their professional setbacks.
Featured Image: Instagram
