Published on: 9/22/2015IST

It is said that acting can't be learned, and rightly so, because if it could be, that would be the only degree that one would ever require to make a living. However, acting is a natural talent which can only be polished under supervision, which is why we see people from all sections of the society entering Bollywood after pursuing acting courses or theatre experiences.

While nepotism is highly prevalent in the Hindi film industry, because of which we see many star kids not getting college degrees and entering Bollywood, there are people who believed in earning a degree before entering Bollywood, keeping a door open in case luck doesn't favour them in this very unpredictable glamour world. Given are the names of some of the most qualified Bollywood celebrities, including engineers, MBAs and investment bankers, who could have given top-notch corporates a run for their money had they decided to enter the corporate world.

1. Soha Ali Khan

Mid-Day

The royal princess is surely one of the most well-read ones. Soha attended The British School in New Delhi and later went to Balliol College, Oxford University. For her Master’s degree, she went on to earn one in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She worked as an investment banker although she hated being one and became an actor against her parents’ wishes

2. Siddharth 

The Rang De Basanti fame actor has earned his MBA degree from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai. He has been an all-rounder in his academic life, and took part in some international debate competitions.

3. John Abraham

The Bollywood hunk had no plans of being a model or actor, which is why he got an MBA from Mumbai Educational Trust. He briefly worked in advertising before becoming a model, and later, an actor and a producer.

4. Sonu Sood

The Dabangg star is surely one of the best-looking villains in Bollywood, but before his modeling career, he earned a graduate degree in electronics engineering from Yeshwantrao Chavan College of Engineering, Nagpur.

5. Shankar Mahadevan

CheckMyMovie

The National Award winning singer and music composer used to be a software engineer before making music his career. He is a degree holder in computer science and software engineering from Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He used to work as a software engineer for Oracle.

6. Parineeti Chopra

The pretty lady might be the only person to have benefitted from the 2009 economic recession. She had plans to become an investment banker, for which she earned a triple honours degree in business, finance and economics from the prestigious Manchester Business School. However, because of the recession, she came back to India where she worked in the PR department of Yash Raj Films, only to bag her first role in Ishaqzaade later.

7. Nagarjuna

ILuvCinema

Nagarjuna, who is not only an actor but also a producer and television presenter, is an engineer by profession. He got his Bachelor of Engineering from the College of Engineering, Guindy, while for his master’s degree, he went off to the Eastern Michigan University and did his M.S. in Automobile Engineering.

8. Varun Grover

This might be a name unheard, but his contribution to Bollywood in terms of his lyrics and creative writing can’t be unheard of. He is a civil engineer from IIT BHU and worked as a software engineer in Pune for some time. He has served as a writer for a number of films like Masaan, Ankhon Dekhi, and the Gangs of Wasseypur series.

9. Kay Kay Menon

Zee

One of the finest actors of Bollywood, Menon earned his MBA from the Department of Management Sciences (PUMBA) at the University of Pune; his major was marketing.

10. Shekhar Kapur

Here is to the man who did one of the toughest courses, only to quit it later and become a film director. Shekhar Kapur became a Chartered Accountant at the tender age of 22, and that too with ICAEW in England.

(Originally published in Business Insider) 

9/22/2015 | | Permalink