How ambitions to make it big in Bollywood allegedly forced some telly actors to tout about non-existent plum film offers...

Many of our successful television actors started their acting careers on the small screen. The likes of Rajeev Khandelwal, Irrfan Khan, Manoj Bajpayee, Prachi Desai and Ayushmann Khurrana first tasted success with their telly appearances before trying their hands in the film industry.

But for some television actors, the temptation to make it big in B-town soon after receiving their maiden film offer, sometimes had them end up with a foot-in-the-mouth syndrome. And some even went to the extent of fuelling rumours about apparently non-existing film offers, only hoping it grabbed a few eyeballs in their favour.

Drashti Dhami

The telly actor supposedly received a plum offer to be part of Ajay Devgn's 'Singham 2'. Drashti, who recently won the sixth season of 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa', was apparently flooded with film offers but sources close to her said she had to reject all of them to carry on with her commitment to her other telly project, 'Madhubala'. The director of the film, Rohit Shetty, however, squashed the rumours.

Pratyusha Banerjee

Pratyusha Banerjee was chosen to play the grown up 'Anandi' in 'Balika Vadhu' after emerging winner of a public voting poll across the country. Soon after, her friends claimed the actress had received an offer to act in 'Jism 3' from Mahesh Bhatt's production banner, which later turned out to be untrue.

Ankita Lokhande

Buzz was that just like her beau Sushant Singh Rajput, Ankita too harboured Bollywood dreams. So much so that there were rumours about her wanting to move on from her daily soap, 'Pavitra Rishta' to pursue her ambitions. Those close to Ankita even said how she had been approached for Farah Khan's 'Happy New Year'. But soon enough, Deepika Padukone was finalised to star in the film.

Parul Chauhan

Immediately after the curtains came down on Parul's telly show, 'Bidaai', a couple of years ago, the actress claimed she had been approached by a known production house to do a film. Though the project failed to find wings, Parul had to console herself by sticking to the small screen.

Karan Singh Grover

Considered as the television's heartthrob once upon a time, industrywallas were not surprised when the actor showed interest in Bollywood. Karan even shot for a film, titled 'Lorie' with Diana Hayden but the project is yet to see light of day.

Gurmeet Chaudhary

Even before he signed up to play 'Ram' in 'Ramayan', Gurmeet apparently shot for a film with showman Subhash Ghai. The film that featured newcomers was eventually scrapped.

In the meanwhile, there are those, who were unparallel stars on the small screen but whose Bollywood careers failed to take off..."

Anuj Saxena

The doctor-turned-actor made his Bollywood debut with the dud film, 'Chase' and also produced films like 'Mile Na Mile Hum', 'Aloo Chat', 'Dulha Mil Gaya' under his banner.

Shweta Salve

The actress signed her first film 'Pyaar Main Kabhi Kabhi' with newcomers. Though, the film's music became an instant hit among youngsters, the film bombed at the box office.

Hussain Kuwajerwala

The popular TV actor tried his luck with 'Shree', but the film sank without a trace.

Aamna Sharif

Rajeev Khandelwal's former flame tried her luck in Bollywood with films like 'Aloo Chat', 'Aao Wish Karen' and 'Shakal Pe Mat Ja' but failed miserably.