IMDb Announces Top 10 Breakout Stars Of Indian Films And Web Series Of 2021; Adarsh Gourav Awarded IMDb STARmeter

* Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger, Hostel Daze) earns the top spot on the IMDb year-end list of stars who had breakout career moments in 2021

Rankings determined by IMDbPro STARmeter data on the actual page views of the hundreds of millions of IMDb customers worldwide

IMDb (www.imdb.com), the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, today unveiled the 2021 Top 10 Breakout Stars of Indian films and web series. For the second year, IMDb is recognizing the top stars featured in an Indian film or web series who had breakthrough career moments this year. Rather than base its annual rankings on small statistical samplings, reviews of professional critics, or box office performance, IMDb determines its definitive top 10 lists using data from IMDbPro STARmeter rankings, which are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly IMDb visitors. IMDb also announced today that this year’s Top Breakout Star, Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger, Hostel Daze), accepted the IMDb Breakout STARmeter Award from his home in Mumbai.

And the 2021 winners are:

IMDb Top 10 Breakout Stars of Indian Films and Web Series in 2021*

Adarsh Gourav

Ashlesha Thakur

Malavika Mohanan

Manoj Bajpayee

Kritika Kamra

Shahana Goswami

Sunny Hinduja

Vikrant Massey

Ahsaas Channa

Sai Tamhankar

*Among the stars of Indian titles who charted in the top 4,000 on the IMDbPro STARmeter chart for the first time in their careers in 2021, these 10 consistently ranked highest throughout the year. IMDbPro STARmeter rankings are based on the actual page views of the more than 200 million monthly visitors to IMDb.

“Fans around the world turn to IMDb to discover and decide what to watch and learn more about the stars of their new favourite shows and movies,” said Yaminie Patodia, head of India, IMDb. “We congratulate Adarsh as our newest recipient of an IMDb STARmeter Award and on his breakout success this year, and we look forward to watching his career continue to grow.”

While holding his award, Gourav expressed his appreciation, sharing, “Thank you so much IMDb, this really means the world to me. And to the [fans] who have taken the precious time to review my films and write testimonials about my performances. The first time I used IMDb was when I was 15, and ever since then I have been an avid IMDb user—in fact, I use it every time I watch a movie, to read the reviews and see what kind of ratings a movie has. So, thank you IMDb for making the experience of watching movies so enjoyable, and making it so accessible to decide the kind of movies that we want to watch.”

Gourav also added, “It’s also very special to me because Priyanka Chopra, who is my co-actor in The White Tiger, was also given a STARmeter Award a few years ago, and now I can share the stage with her when it comes to receiving this award.”

To see the full video of Gourav accepting his IMDb STARmeter Award, visit https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2700067609.

Additional information about this year’s Top Breakout Stars:

Adarsh Gourav played a pivotal role as Balram in the award-nominated Netflix film The White Tiger, about an Indian driver who fights oppression and defies social norms to succeed. His role earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Leading Actor and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Male Lead.

Critically acclaimed star Manoj Bajpayee had multiple breakthrough performances this year and continues to experiment with his roles, even after a more than two-decade career in Indian films and television. He worked with a wide set of streaming partners including Prime Video (The Family Man), Netflix (Ray), and ZEE5 (Silence: Can you Hear It? and Dial 100), and starred in the highly anticipated Malayalam movie, Kurup.

Three of the stars of The Family Man earned spots on the year-end list: No. 2 Ashlesha Thakur, No. 4 Manoj Bajpayee, and No. 7 Sunny Hinduja.

Shahana Goswami impressed audiences with the hit supernatural crime-thriller series The Last Hour, but her role as Fatima in Alankrita Shrivastava’s Bombay Begums propelled her STARmeter rank and landed her a spot on the IMDb Top Breakout Stars list.

To learn more about this year’s IMDb Top Breakout Stars of Indian films and web series, watch this video: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi2681520921

Additional insight into trending movies, TV shows, and celebrities, with rankings updated weekly, is available to IMDbPro members throughout the year on both the site and apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android. IMDbPro, a membership-based service offering a special rate for new members in India, includes comprehensive information and tools designed to help entertainment industry professionals achieve success throughout all stages of their career. IMDbPro offers members the following: detailed contact and representation information; more than 25,000 in-development film and TV titles not available on IMDb; tools to manage and showcase their IMDb profile, including selecting their primary images and the credits they are best “known for;” IMDbPro Track, which allows members to receive personalized entertainment industry news and updates on the people and film and TV projects they want to follow; and a convenient tool that generates custom digital assets to promote their work on social media and other platforms. The IMDbPro Discover tool empowers members to search for entertainment industry professionals based on a variety of key data, experience, and expertise, including credit details, representation, and awards received. With more than 25 new search filters and more than 11 million professional name pages, IMDbPro Discover was created for established industry decision-makers, including casting directors, producers, directors, showrunners, and department heads. IMDbPro Discover includes advanced features to customize, export, and share dynamic lists. To become a member today, visit www.imdbpro.com.

About IMDb

IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Products and services to help fans decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and X-Ray on Prime Video. IMDb also offers a free streaming channel, IMDb TV, and produces IMDb original video series and podcasts. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at developer.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb.