Salman Khan to Akshay Kumar: Indian celebs who changed their names

The evergreen actress Rekha shortened her birth name, Bhanurekha Ganesan, for simplicity. As Rekha, she became a film industry icon.

Salman Khan's full name reflects his family roots: Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan. He adopted a shorter name for his film career.

Saif's real name is Sajid Ali Khan. He changed it to Saif Ali Khan to establish his identity in the film industry.

Akshay Kumar's real name is Rajiv Bhatia. He liked the name Akshay from a character he played and decided to adopt it.

Before superstardom, Rajinikanth was Shivaji Rao. To avoid confusion with actor Shivaji Ganesan, a director suggested Rajinikanth.

Katrina Kaif's real name was Katrina Turquotte, but she used Kaif, her father's surname, for her film career.

Ajay Devgn's real name is Vishal Devgn. Due to other actors with the same name, he changed it to Ajay.

Kiara Advani's real name was Alia Advani. She changed it on Salman Khan's advice to avoid confusion with Alia Bhatt.

Amitabh Bachchan's real name, Inklaab Srivastava, was inspired by the slogan 'Inklaab Zindabad.' His father later changed it to Amitabh.

John Abraham's real name is Farhan Abraham. He changed it to John, the name his father used for him.