The thing about newcomers is, you never where they are coming from…unless they come from a film family. In which case we are informed well in advance of their arrival. Alarmingly the influx of new talent into Bollywood from non-film families has stopped completely. Here’s looking at the ones who bring hope.

1. Rinzing Denzongpa: Danny Denzongpa’a son, I am told, can do anything. An all-rounder, Rinzing dances, fights, emotes, and makes people laugh too. While his first film is an actioner titled Squad Bollywood’s producers are lining up to cast him in a bouquet of parts. Papa Danny is keeping out of his son’s career. “When I came into the industry I fought biases, discrimination and privileged star sons. Rinzing will have to fight his own battles,” Danny told me.

2.Manushi Chillar: Beauty queens have had a chequered career in Bollywood.Largely they have been seen to be lookers with no talent. Would Manushi Chillar break the myth? She plays the mythical beauty Sanjukta who was whisked away by Prithviraj Chauhan from her swayamvar in Chandraprakash Diwedi’s Prithviraj Chauhan. Not a conventional way to start. But then different is the new normal, right? I hope Ms Chillar has not been shortchanged by the masculine script. Her future depends on where Aditya Chopra intends to take her next.

2. Ahan Shetty: Sunil Shetty’s son is said to be every bit a chip of the old block, the same agility in action scenes, plus some striking acting schopts too! Producer Sajid Nadiadwala who is launching Ahan in Tadap says he is full-on star material. Sajid should know. He has earlier launched Tiger Shroff. Ahan has a solid debut film , a remake of Ajay Bhupathi’s Telugu film RDX 100.It should do the trick.

3. Lakshya Lalwani: A Karan Johar discovery is more likely to succeed than not.Remember Alia Bhatt,Siddharth Malhotra,Varun Dhawan? Lakshya who comes from television has no family ties in Bollywood. Karan Johar says he has been chosen entirely on merit. We believe. Lakshya is playing the parallel lead with Kartik Aryan in Karan Johar’s Dostana opposite Janhvi Kapoor.

4. Sharvari Wagh: An Aditya Chopra protégée is always interesting…and welcomed in the film industry. Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma were two of the most distinguished Yashraj alumni. Now it is Sharwari Wagh who is paired with the promising Gully Boy actor Siddhant Chaturvedi in Bunty Aur Babli2. The buzz is that the young pair has stolen the show completely from the older pair Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee.

5. Palak Tiwari: Daughter of the popular television actress Shweta Tiwary , Palak will make her debut in a real-life drama based on an incident in Gurgram that shook the country. The project titled Rosie The Saffron Chapter portrays Palak as a victim of a gruesome crime.