Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Revathy, Raveena Tandon and Aparna Sen are a queer mix of actors, but they all have one thing in common.

In new avatars as producers or directors, they are fuelling the Indian film industry's attempts to break from a set mould and think out of the box.

A thirst for creative satisfaction and critical acclaim has much to do with the attempts of the Mumbai-based film trade to bring about sweeping changes both in substance and spirit.

Shah Rukh Khan's latest self-financed film - "Paheli" - though beautiful and enchanting on its own merits, would not have got the kind of attention it is getting if he had not put his entire clout behind the film.

The Amol Palekar-directed film, though lauded by film critics, is a financial gamble that an archetypal Bollywood producer would not have taken up especially at a large scale.

"Paheli", a literary reinterpretation of a Rajasthani folk tale, stars Rani Mukherjee and features Shah Rukh in the double role of a playful ghost and Rani's dreary husband.

Shah Rukh is increasingly backing films that are most unlike the ones that made him a superstar in the eyes of millions. Even he admits that he likes to put his money on unusual stories whenever the balances of his production company permit.

His first two attempts as a producer - "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani," which was about TV news channels undercutting each other and would have been better understood in the present time, and "Asoka," based on the life of the Mughal emperor - were both unique but left his company in the red.

Film star Aamir Khan has been most successful in the double role of producer-cum-lead actor. His gamble has almost always paid off whether it was "Lagaan" or "Dil Chahta Hai".

Both films were most unlike any that the actor has starred in and went on to touch peaks of stardom. It is no wonder that Aamir's next film - "The Rising" - is already being touted as an ideal contender as India's entry for the Oscars.

On the other hand, legendary star Amitabh Bachchan's initial attempts at film production had come undone. To rescue his company from a financial rut, Amitabh dabbled in lowbrow formulaic films that he would probably love to forget.

Amitabh's recent productions like the surreal "Aks" are films that see him evolving into a different person every time. Increasingly, he is putting his money behind young and innovative directors.

Among the women, production and direction are emerging as best options for those who cannot pirouette in the rains. Even a mainstream performer like Raveena chose a serious social issue to mark her maiden production. Likewise when good roles got fewer, Aparna Sen and Revathy began wielding the microphone.

These actors grow beyond their celebrity status to become the character they portray and these are the actors whom you can trust to be different. They are also the ones who stick around the longest.

This new trend of actors who have touched the peak of stardom but are no longer willing to tread the beaten track is much unlike the stars of yesteryears like Dev Anand, Dharmendra, Mithun Chaturvorty and most of the Kapoors who gave in to market diktats when it came to putting their money back into the industry.

However, when actors like Aishwarya Rai, Govinda, Anil Kapoor and Salman Khan turned to production they stuck to the beaten track and their attempts came to a naught.

With more and more mainstream actors jumping on to the bandwagon on film production and direction, it seems that the new habits that Bollywood seems to be acquiring of late are here to stay.

This year has set a good precedence. The only unqualified hits that Hindi cinema has witnessed are Madhur Bhandarkar's "Page 3" and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Black". Both are most unlike typical Bollywood flicks.

Moreover, director Sudhir Mishra's Indo-French co-production "Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi" has reportedly earned three times the amount spent on its production. Even Shaad Ali's hit "Bunty Aur Babli" is within the parameters of Bollywood entertainment, but by breaking the mould.

The recently released "Parineeta" also seems well on its way to make an important contribution to the box-office bottom line.

This coupled with the snub Bollywood's self-styled showman Subhash Ghai received from viewers of his recent release "Kisna" has given analysts hope to believe that audiences seem to be embracing change as much as filmmakers and actors.

Commercially oriented productions that are not run-of-the-mill entertainers and movies with substance are scoring over mere packaging.

A new breed of producer-directors, the likes of Shah Rukh, Aamir and of course Ram Gopal Varma, Bhansali and Vidhu Vinod Chopra need to be thanked for this. The very versatile Ram Gopal Varma is ready with yet another gangster film - "Sarkar" - starring Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan among a host of other talents.

The maverick filmmaker is leaving no stone unturned to position his film as anything but a gangster flick, even going to the extent of calling it a family drama.

At the launch of the film, Varma had claimed that "Sarkar" will be a tribute to the classic movie - "The Godfather" - but post the box-office drubbing of films inspired by the mob, he is distancing himself from the film that made the mafia look good and even enviable.