Many think he is just a pretty face. But since his debut in 2012 with Student Of The Year, Siddharth Malhotra has constantly striven to disprove the belief that good looking people can’t act.Here are his 5 bravest efforts.

1. Ek Villain(2014): Though ‘villain’ Ritesh Deshmukh walked away with the critical acclaim, Siddharth as the grieving hero packed in a certain mount of florid intensity combined with some terrific stunts. This was one Malhotra’s earliest successes. Interestingly in his other release Hansee To Phansi the same year Malhotra happily allowed Parineeti Chopra to take centrestage.

2. Kapoor & Sons(2016) : This one featured a dreamlike ensemble cast including the great Rishi Kapoor , Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajat Kapoor and Karan Johar’s favourite Pakistani import Fawad Khan. But Sid Malhotra held his own, maybe because Alia Bhatt was also round. Back then they were supposed to be seeing one another. How time flies!

3. A Gentleman(2017): This zany spy thriller featured Sid Malhotra in two avatars , an ordinary nerdy workingclass guy and a 007 styled secret agent. I’m not sure how well he succeeded in pulling off the dual personality. But Malhotra did display the potential of being a full-on filmi hero,lights, fights,camera, and plenty of action.

4. Aiyaary(2018): Having Manoj Bajpai as his co-star in this muddled war-espionage drama helped Siddharth negotiate the rocky terrain. He played Bajpai’s protégé, and that’s the relationship they shared in real life as well. I remember Manoj calling me up to “go easy” when during Aiyaary Sid got into trouble for some random comment on the Bhojpuri language.

5. Marjaavaan(2019): Full-on masala action with Malhotra cast as a slum hero who grows up a goonda but reforms when love(Tara Sutaria)strikes him speechless. We know love is supposed to be blind. But this time ‘love’ was also mute. Tara spoke to Malhotra in sign language .The boxoffice was barely kind to the love that was mute and blind. Bottom line: that one big hit still eludes Siddharth Malhotra’s career.