Bollywood is often stated as an example of a place where Darwin's famous phrase “survival of the fittest” finds a level playground for every aspirant with a “Bollywood dream” to try their luck. However, what is also often stated is that it isn't about finding a way into the industry, but more of surviving in it.

People don numerous hats to become a part of this star-studded industry, before finally getting the chance to do what they had really set out to do. The same goes for a number of prominent actors in the industry who started out as ADs and writers before finally facing the camera as actors.

Today, we list down 5 actors who started their careers as background dancers and are known as prominent actors today.

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Shahid started out as a regular struggling artist in Bollywood despite being Pankaj Kapoor's son. At the beginning of his career, he was seen in numerous advertisements, music videos and even in movies as a background dancer. He was seen in movies such as 'Taal' and 'Dil Toh Pagal Hai'

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Dia Mirza holds the crown for Miss Asia Pacific 2000, but even she started out as a background dancer in south Indian films. She was seen in the 1999 Tamil film 'En Swasa Kaatre', in a song titled Jhumbalaka.

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Before officially stepping into Bollywood as an actor, Sushant Singh Rajput performed as a background dancer as part of Shiamak Davar's dance company. He can be seen in the title track of Hrithik Roshan's 'Dhoom 2'.

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Remember Salman Khan's film 'Tere Naam'? The one that inspired numerous young men to don Salman's look from the film. Well, the song 'Lagan Lagi' features Daisy Shah shaking a leg with Salman Khan. She was a well-known background dancer before she made her acting debut.

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A popular comic actor, he worked as a choreographer in the industry initially. However, he also performed as a background dancer a few times, like in the song titled Help Me from 'Aag Se Khelenge'.