1 Ashok Kumar
The first superstar of Indian cinema had a very ordinary name, Kumudlal Kanjilal Ganguly, when he came to Mumbai wanting to be a director. He was suddenly brought to the forefront by brother-in-law, S. Mukherjee, when the male lead of Jeevan Naiyya (1936), Najmul Hasan, was dropped after a scandalous elopement with Devika Rani, the wife of producer Himanshu Rai.
2 Dilip Kumar
As a young man trying to break into the film industry, Yousuf Khan changed his name to Dilip Kumar at the behest of Bombay Talkies co-founder, Devika Rani. The poster of his first film, Jwar Bhata (1944), credits him as Dileep Kumar.
3 Nargis
Before becoming Mrs. Sunil Dutt, Nargis was named Fatima A. Rashid. She joined films as the child artiste Baby Rani, graduating to lead roles at 14 opposite Motilal with Mehboob Khan's Taqdeer (1943).
4 Jeevan
The villain who changed characters like a chameleon was born Omkar Nath Dhar in Srinagar, the youngest of 24 siblings. At 18, he ran away from home to come to Mumbai to become an actor; his first leading role was in Mohan Sinha's Fashionable India (1935). He was credited as O.K. Dhar.
5 Nirupa Roy
Roy's pet name at birth was 'Chibi'; she was later rechristened Kanta as she grew up. At 14, she married Kamal Balsara and her name became Kokila Bulsara. When she entered Gujarati and later Hindi cinema, her name was changed to Nirupa Roy.
6 Ajit
The character actor and villain who tried his hand with lead roles in Nastik ( 1954), Bara-Dari (1955) and Bada Bhai (1957) was born as Hamid Ali Khan in Hyderabad. Ajit was known for his world famous dialogue delivery, heavy on the puns and rhymes.
7 Shyama
Born Khurshid Akhtar, Shyama got her first start in the chorus of Noorjehan's Zeenat (1945). She was given her screen name by director Vijay Bhatt and went on to act in blockbusters like Aar Paar (1954) and Barsaat Ki Raat (1960).
8 Shashi Kapoor
Born in Kolkata, the youngest of the Kapoor brothers was named Balbir Raj Kapoor by his step-grandmother after it deemed auspicious that the child be named from 'B'. His mother named Shashi as he used always glance up at the moon.
9 Manorama
After a brief turn as child actor Baby Iris in Lahore, Erin Isaac Daniels became Manorama for Moti B. Gidwani's murder mystery Khazanchi in 1941. Later on in her career, Manorama was increasingly typecast in character roles as the malevolent elderly relative.
10 Kamini Kaushal
Kaushal began reading scripts for All India Radio in Lahore for pocket money. She was offered Neecha Nagar (1946) by filmmaker Chetan Anand and changed her name from Uma Kashyap to Kamini Kaushal as Anand's wife Uma was appearing in another film directed by him.