Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Radhika Apte: Bollywood actors who created an impact on the digital space in 2018

Bollywood and the Indian audience off late have explored a new medium of entertainment that has an instant reach across the globe. The digital platform is the new medium of entertainment that is quick and available at the click of a button for any smartphone user. More and more content is being written and developed to hook the audience on digital platforms. in 2018, several web series and video on demand shows, saw many top-billed actors exploring the medium to reach out the maximum people not just in India but also across the world.

The year 2018 saw several interesting video on demand shows on various OTT platforms that were dominated by many mainstream actors with their superlative performances. Let's have a look into the list of the actors who dominated the digital world with their performances par excellence.

The crime thriller drama ‘Sacred Games’ on Netflix turned out to be the game changer on the digital platform. The series based on the novel by the same name by Vikram Chandra is the first original series on Netflix in India. The series saw a gamut of Bollywood actors playing characters which soon became popular. Following the success of ‘Sacred Games’, many actors, as well as makers, are now slowly venturing into the digital space.

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As the year comes to a close, here’s a look back the Bollywood actors who created an impact on digital space.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui in ‘Sacred Games’

There is no doubt that in the coming years, ‘Sacred Games’ will be termed as a game changer for it not only paved a way for other Bollywood actors to explore digital medium but also highlighted the fact that good content is lapped up by the audience irrespective of the medium. While almost all characters created an impact, it was Nawaz's character ‘Ganesh Gaitonde’ took away the maximum applause for his performance. Ganesh Gaitonde memes, his dialogues suddenly went viral on the internet and made him instantly famous ruling the digital world to date. Nawazuddin is now all set with the season 2 of Sacred Games, once again geared up taking the digital world in the coming year.

Pankaj Tripathi in ‘Mirzapur’

The second show that rocked the digital world was ‘Mirzapur’. The power packed performances by all the characters created a huge stir with most actors playing their parts to perfection. Actors such as Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyendu Sharma, Vikrant Massey, Rasika Dugal, Shriya Pilgaonkar amongst many others gave their best performances. Pankaj Tripathi as Kaleen Bhaiyya was at his best. As a cool and calm dreaded gangster, Pankaj gave one of his best performances.

Ali Fazal in ‘Mirzapur’

The suave actor Ali Fazal was the surprise element of ‘ Mirzapur’. Ali played the dreaded gangster Guddu Pandit, who is mean and loves killing people at the drop of a hat. To play his part Ali gained more than 10 kgs to look like a gigantic beast. Fazal’s character had shades of grey yet, his performance was loved by all.

R Madhavan in ‘Breathe’

The brilliant actor R Madhavan's first outing in digital space with web-series ‘Breathe’ on Amazon Prime left the audience spellbound and intrigued. The show also stars Amit Sadh as one of the protagonists but its Maddy who walks away with the maximum plaudits. Madhavan plays the role of a father whose son needs an urgent lung transfer or his son will die. The story weaves around Madhavan who in order to get the surgery done on time, goes on a murdering spree. Madhavan’s act as the anguished dad trying to save his child struck a chord with many.

Radhika Apte in ‘Ghoul’, ‘Sacred Games’

The list would not be complete unless there is a mention of the queen of digital series- Radhika Apte. The year 2018 saw some of the best works of Radhika both on the silver screen and on the digital world. The horror series ‘Ghoul’ on Netflix starring Radhika Apte as the protagonist along with Manav Kaul is one of the best horror series to have happened to the Indian audience in a long time. It ticks all the boxes for a great horror thriller and had Radhika delivering one of her strongest performances. Apte also earned praises for her performance as the no-nonsense cop in ‘Sacred Games’. The story may have been about two men, but Radhika in her limited screen time managed to create an impact.

Mithila Palkar in ‘Little Things Season 2’

The sweet charmer Mithila Palkar has been there on the internet for quite a sometime and has a strong fan following on the digital space. All her digital shows have a good number of views making her one of the youngest YouTube sensations in India. Her web shows ‘Little Things season 2’ that released this year and was picked up global giant Netflix garnered a huge number of views. Earlier this show was released by Dice Media on YouTube but gauging the popularity of the show it was acquired by global OTT platform Netflix. ‘Little Things season 2’ took the story forward from its first season where an urban couple struggles to stay together and keep the spark alive as career, profession, and priorities take precedence.

Gulshan Devaiah in ‘Smoke’

Thriller, gang war, mysteries were the flavour of the digital world this year. Many web shows explored these categories. One such series ‘Smoke’ was released on video on demand platform Eros Now. It had some of the brilliant actors like Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiah, Jim Sarbh, Amit Sial, Mandira Bedi and Tom Alter and a plot that got the audience hooked. But it was Gulshan’s character as JJ a hitman from Bihar that stood out of all the characters in the series. As a gruesome killer, he also added a dash of humour to his character, bringing some much-needed happiness to the show.

Saif Ali Khan in ‘Sacred Games’

Would the list be complete without mentioning Sartaj Singh of ‘Sacred Games’? Saif Ali Khan is perhaps the only Bollywood actor who has time and again re-invented. In his digital debut, Khan played a dissuaded Mumbai cop who chances upon a big scam that can lead to the destruction of epic proportions. While Nawaz’s character got more noticed due to the character he played, Saif’s restrained performance as the cop who is trying to make peace with his troubled past was also appreciated by the audience.