Models can't act?

Models can't act —a saying often used to dismiss models trying to make it in films, is a thing of the past.

All A-listers in Bollywood today have sometime or the other started their career with modelling. For instance, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma have all been top models, who have scorched the ramp at some point of time. Just goes to show, that it's not just histrionics but the entire package that matters in Bollywood today.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh agrees that most actors today are from the modelling world, but they have proved their mettle as actors as well.

He opines, "The phrase that models can't act doesn't hold true anymore, except for perhaps a few of them who really can't act. Initially just two or three model-turned-actors, who couldn't act were in the spotlight. But nowadays everyone is quite serious about their work and are professional about it. The top rung of actors today are serious about their job and hard working. Take for instance Deepika, she was very confident in her debut film Om Shanti Om, but she still had a lot to learn. Today she has transformed herself into a fine actress and all this has been possible because of her determination. Ditto for Priyanka who has been consistently working hard on each of her roles."

However, while models turning into successful actors seem to hold true for females, there are hardly any male model-turned-actors who have managed to make a mark, besides Arjun Rampal and John Abraham.

A veteran producer says, "Arjun has been doing well in the past couple of films, especially Om Shanti Om and Rajneeti. John too has improved over the years. But not every model is a good actor, and similarly it is wrong to assume that every star kid is a great actor. Sometimes a star kid is also a failure. It is about having talent and giving it the right direction."