Why so many actors change their names before entering Bollywood?
But it turns out for Bollywood, a lot is in the name. As far back as one can see, actors in Bollywood have been changing their names, mostly before entering the industry. From Dilip Kumar (Yusuf Khan) to Akshay Kumar (Rajeev Bhatia), To Govinda (Govind Ahuja) to Kartik Aaryan (Kartik Tiwari). Name changing is an age-old practice and actors tend to change their common and mundane kinda name to something cool that will look and sound cool on screen. Like Kartik, many just change their surnames (Ranveer Bhavnani became Ranveer Singh). This trend to change the name to fit the bill might prove to be effective for a while. Because ultimately a person's talent and even luck will determine their career and not their newly changed name.