Does name or identity of stars matter?

So many Bollywood stars (heck! Stars of whole cinema industry) have changed their names or tried to hide their identity. Yusuf Khan became Dilip Kumar, Sampooran Singh Gulzar shaved off his hair and became Gulzar, Jagjit Singh also shaved off his hair and did away with his turban, Karkirtan Kaur became Geeta Bali. Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Nargis also adopted names that did not reveal their religious identity.

Some others changed their name not to hide identity but simply to sound "starry" - Ajay Devgan, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif are all a part of this brigade. I don't know if Rajinikanth changed his name to sound starry or to fudge his identity.

Some change their name and abbreviate it like AR Rahman.

My question is - does name or identity really matter? Does it make an artiste more "starry" in your eyes as viewer? Does name change or identity change make any difference? Is it indeed needed?

Personally, I wouldn't give a damn whether it was Rajeev Bhatia or Akshay Kumar as long as I were liking the actor's performance and screen presence!

The Roshans are also actually Nagrath (if I am not mistaken!).

What's the logic in changing names? Did they think people would not know of their identity? (Everyone and their dog knows that Dilip Kumar is a Muslim!) Did they think they'd get "favour"?

I can understand a bit of reasons for actors to change their names and change/hide their identity. But I don't understand why lyricists and singers also did it!

Was it just something that artistes and creative people do (resorting to monikers, pen names etc.)? Or were there any other pressures?

Does it matter to you as a part of public and audience - what the identity of a public figure is? Will it influence your perception of his/her work?

Please share your views!

Sampooran Singh Gulzar shaved off his hair and became Gulzar

I think astrology played a role in some of these! Some changed their names to blend in better! Frankly it doesn't hold any significance unless you have some strange, unpronounceable name.

Skepblun I think all that was just a myth, the fear that "they wouldn't click if they don't change their names" . But if u ask me doesn't matter, one should always be proud of their real name.

Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan changed their names too?! What were their previous names?

Originally posted by: HappyMelody

Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan changed their names too?! What were their previous names?

I agree with Bollyd, it's all about one's belief in Astrology or numerology etc. Directors/producers change movie names with extra letters or so for the same purpose. Apparently identity does matter in an industry like cinema I guess going by these name changes

Vishal Devgan sounds lot better than Ajay. That's a strange call by Ajay 🤔

Rajeev Bhatia? It seems strange to think of Akshay as as Rajeev. I guess if he had kept his name and continued with it, it wouldn't matter to me either because he'd still be the Khiladi of Btown. But Akshay Kumar does sound a whole lot better! Khilad Kumar compared to Khiladi Bhatia, Kumar wins 😆. I do think like the others that astrology had a hand to do with it.

^ Yeah Akshay Kumar does sound better

Originally posted by: HappyMelody

^ Yeah Akshay Kumar does sound better

Does anybody know Aamir's previous name? Or is it the extra A added to his name?