Showbiz is often abuzz with tales of mistaken identities due to many Bollywood and TV celebs sharing similar names, in some cases exactly the same. We narrate some interesting stories, and also make an effort to simplify things by informing you who is who and what exactly do they do. Akshaye Khanna is one of the most underrated actors in Bollywood, who has proved his mettle as an actor several times. Be it Taal, Dil Chahta Hai, Mom, Race and the most recent The Accidental Prime Minister. But he still gets mistaken for Akshay Kumar, also a leading actor. On Akshaye Khanna’s birthday let us check out other celebs with similar sounding names.
Akshay Kumar and Akshaye Khanna: A few years ago, Khiladi Kumar kept receiving text messages meant for Vinod Khanna’s actor-son for a week. The SMSes were about Akshaye Khanna’s shooting updates, but the person responsible mistakenly kept sending the messages to the wrong actor
Rajat Kapoor and Rajit Kapur: The two have been mistaken for each other numerous times. A few years back, a speaker at an event lauded Rajit for his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (DCH). Rajit had to quickly interrupt him, informing that was Rajat and not him. For the record, Rajit is the actor who immortalised the detective Byomkesh Bakshi on Indian television while Rajat is an acclaimed actor-director, who has acted in films like the Bheja Fry series and Phas Gaye Re Obama
Karan Grover and Karan Singh Grover: With such an identical name, there’s bound to be confusion, and it doesn’t help that both are TV actors. Karan Grover mentioned in a recent interview that people often call him for meetings only to tell him that he wasn’t the one they had invited. Karan Grover has acted in shows like Saarrthi and Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli and played Gulshan Roshanlal Grover in ‘Hum Aapke Hai In-laws’. Karan Singh Grover is most remembered as Dr Armaan Mallik of Dill Mill Gayye. He forayed into Bollywood with Alone opposite Bipasha Basu who he later married
Karan Mehra and Karan Mehra: One Karan Mehra played the lead Naitik in the long-running TV show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. The other, played a character with negative shades named Yug Mehra in Amrit Manthan. The latter is not as popular and keeps getting calls from fans who think he is Naitik!
Raj Kumar Gupta and Rajkummar Rao: Gupta, the critically-acclaimed director of films like Aamir and No One Killed Jessica, who also directed Ghanchakkar starring Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi, is sometimes mistakenly mentioned in media articles with the surname Yadav. Raj Kumar Yadav who later became Rajkummar Rao has acted in LSD, Ragini MMS, Kai Po Che!, Queen, CityLights, Behen Hogi Teri and most recently the web series Bose: Dead or Alive and Newton
Imran Khan and Emraan Hashmi: When Emraan was shooting in Mumbai for Ek Thi Daayan and Imran was in Chandigarh for Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (both Vishal Bhardwaj projects), clothes meant for Emraan were delivered to Imran in Chandigarh!
Reema Sen, Riya Sen, Raima Sen and Rimi Sen: Riya and Raima are Moon Moon Sen’s daughters, but Reema and Rimi are often mistaken for the same though neither is related to Moon Moon in any way. Reema acted in Hum Ho Gaye Aapke opposite Fardeen Khan and has given some hits down south. Rimi has acted in successful Bollywood films like Hungama, Dhoom, Golmaal and Johnny Gaddaar
Ali Zafar and Ali Abbas Zafar: The namesakes collaborated in a film recently. While Ali Zafar is the Pakistani actor who played Imran Khan’s brother in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ali Abbas Zafar was the director of the same film! Actor Ali Zafar is also the lead of Chashme Buddoor and went on to star in Kill Dil
Vipul Shah and Vipul D Shah: Vipul Shah is the director of popular films like Aankhen, Waqt: The Race Against Time and Namastey London while Vipul D Shah is a more known name in television circles. He is the producer of popular shows like Crime Patrol and Kahani Comedy Circus Ki
Farah Khan and Farah Khan Ali: Farah Khan is a choreographer-turned-director, who made her acting debut with Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi. Farah Khan Ali is a jewellery designer and the daughter of actor-director Sanjay Khan. She is married to DJ Aqeel. Sussanne Khan and actor Zayed Khan are her siblings.
