Actors who played characters with special needs

Salman Khan is gearing up to begin work on Kabir Khan’s next war drama ‘Tubelight’. This will be their second film together post their 2015 blockbuster ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. The film that is set during the Indo-China war, will be a love story, that will allegedly feature a Chinese actress opposite Khan. Latest reports doing the rounds suggest that Salman will play a "special" role for the first time in his career. If those reports turn out to be true, fans will get to see Salman play a ‘man-child’ of sorts who is slow in learning things. Director Kabir is also doing his part to make sure that character is presented in a sensitive manner in the film.

Kabir Khan’s previous film with Salman Khan – ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ – also featured a character with special needs. Child star Haarshali Malhotra played the role of Munni, a mute Pakistani girl, who gets left behind on Indian soil and is unable to find her way back home. Salman may have been the superstar in the film, but it was Haarshali’s character that pulled on everyone’s heartstrings.

Before Haarshali took over the silver screen, there was a certain buck-teeth boy Darsheel Safary, who played a schoolboy with learning disabilities. ‘Taare Zameen Par’ starring Aamir Khan in the lead, not only brought the condition of dyslexia to the forefront but also explained the condition and portrayed its symptoms through the course of the film.

Kalki Koechlin bagged a national award early this year for her portrayal of a young woman with cerebral palsy in the critically acclaimed film ‘Margarita With A Straw’. The film followed her character’s struggles of living an ordinary life despite her disabilities.

Hrithik Roshan’s role in his upcoming film ‘Kaabil’ will see him play a visually challenged man alongside Yami Gautam, who will also play a blind woman. According to reports, the film is a first of its kind love story in Bollywood, where the leading pair will play blind characters. The movie is about a blind man who takes vengeance of his lover's brutal rape and murder.

While most movies take on only one disability, director Anurag Basu took up the challenge of making a light-hearted film ‘Barfi’ with both his lead characters being specially abled. Ranbir Kapoor played the role of a mute lad, who is trying hard to woo his crush. Priyanka Chopra, on the other hand, played the role of a mentally challenged girl, who finds a friend in Ranbir’s character and sets out on a long fun filled journey with him.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan won over hearts when he played the role of a 13-year-old boy Auro, suffering from a rare disorder called progeria in the film ‘Paa’. With a lot of help from an internationally acclaimed makeup team, Amitabh got into the skin of his character that had a progressive genetic disorder that causes him to age rapidly.

In the 2010 film ‘My Name Is Khan’, Shah Rukh Khan took on the role of Rizwan Khan, an autistic man suffering from Asperger’s syndrome. SRK earned a lot of praises and awards his performance in the film that also starred Kajol. The film followed his character, who embarked on a journey to meet the president of the United States of America in an attempt to change people's perception about his religion.

Hrithik Roshan announced his arrival in Bollywood with the film ‘Koi Mil Gaya’. The actor played a mentally challenged school boy, who goes on to befriend an alien ‘Jadoo’, who in turn grants him super-human powers.

Rani Mukerji portrayed a visually challenged and deaf teenager in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2005 film ‘Black’. The film that also starred Amitabh Bachchan followed the story of a teacher who helps his specially abled student, explore her potential as she takes on the challenge of becoming a college graduate.