Top 10 South Actresses in Bollywood: Ileana D'Cruz, Shruti Haasan, Kajal Aggarwal and Other Stars

Bollywood, which is more popular and caters to a wider audience, has welcomed many film stars from south into its fold.

The trend of south actresses migrating to Bollywood is not new to the industry. Earlier in the 70s and 80s, popular actresses like Vyjayanthimala, Sridevi and Jayaprada achieved a successful transition from being called a south actress to a Bollywood star.

The trend seems to continue even now with popular actresses from the south, who are enjoying success in all the southern film industries (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada), making a beeline to the glamourous world of Bollywood cinema.

Here is our list of top 10 current crop popular actresses who made an entry in Bollywood.  

Ileana D'Cruz

Gorgeous actress Ileana D'Cruz made her debut in Telugu film "Devadasu" with Ram Pothineni, which fetched her filmfare best female debut award in 2006. Since then, there has been no turning back for this Mumbai girl, who starred in numerous projects alongside popular actors.  

After working in the Telugu industry for nearly six years, Ileana made her Bollywood debut with "Barfi" co-starring Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. The film won accolades from all quarters and also earned a good name for Ileana, whose performance was well appreciated.

The actress seems to have stopped taking up projects down south and is concentrating only in Bollywood films. She will be seen in "Phata Poster Nikla Hero" with Shahid Kapoor. Latest reports also suggest that the actress is all set to romance Saif Ali Khan, though there is no official word on it.

Shruti Haasan

Shruti Haasan made her acting debut with "Lukk" in 2009. The film turned out to be a box office dud. Later, the actress shifted her focus to south projects where she earned accolades for her performances.

Her second Hindi release "Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji" also did not fare well. The actress has two bollywood flicks lined up for release this year. She stars in Nikhil Advani's "D-Day" and Prabhu Deva's "Ramaiya Vastavaiya", a remake of the Telugu blockbuster "Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana".

Kajal Aggarwal

Actress Kajjal Aggarwal made her successful entry in Bollywood with "Singham", which released last year. The film, a remake of Tamil film "Singam", had Ajay Devgn playing the male lead. Kajal reprised the role played by Anushka Shetty.

Taapsee Pannu

Taapsi's first film was the National Award winning Tamil film "Aadukalam" starring "Kolaveri Di" fame Dhanush. The actress who is currently busy with multiple projects in the south, made her bollywood debut this year with "Chashme Baddoor". The film, which is a remake of the 1980s flick of the same name, did good business at the box office.

Tammanna Bhatia

Tammanna is another south actress who made her debut this year in bollywood. She starred opposite Ajay Devgn in the remake of 1980s film "Himmatwala". The film turned out to be a disaster, with critics panning director Sajid Khan for an unimpressive remake.

Priya Anand

Priya Anand became popular in Bollywood circles through her film "English Vinglish", which also marked the re-entry of actress Sridevi. She then starred in "Rangrezz" with Jackky Bhagnani. The actress, who has her hands full with south films, will also be seen in a Hindi film this year. She will appear in "Fukrey", an upcoming comedy film.

Asin

Asin reprised her "Ghajini" role in the Hindi remake, starring Amir Khan. The film was one of the most successful flicks and even joined the elite ₹100-crore club.

Since then, the actress has starred in a few bollywood projects with popular actors like Salman Khan, Abishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar. Her last release "Khiladi 786" was released in 2012.

Shriya Saran

Actress Shriya Saran has acted in quite a few Hindi films including "Awarapan" and "Ek- The Power of One". She was last seen doing a special appearance in "Zilla Ghaziabad", which has Sanjay Dutt in the lead.

Genelia D'Souza

Genelia began her acting career with "Tujhe Meri Kasam" co-starring her husband Ritesh Deshmukh. After her debut, she went on to star in several south films and became one of the most sought-after actresses. Her major hit film in Hindi was "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na" which marked the debut of Imran Khan.

 Nidhi Subbaiah

The Kannada actress made her debut in Bollywood, playing a news reporter in "Oh My God". She also starred in the romantic-comedy "Ajab Gazabb Love" alongside Jackky Bhagnani. Buzz is that the south actress is dating Jackky, but there is no formal announcement from both the actors.