The battle between "insiders" who have blood ties within the Hindi film industry heavyweights and "outsiders" who do not have godfathers seems to be tilting in favor of the latter.

For decades the Hindi film trade has followed a straightjacket policy when it came to film casting. Filmmakers used to first go for leading stars and if none were available then look for a star-son or star-daughter for their films.

But the access to easy finance and the opening of varied avenues for recovery of investment into a film has not only made it possible for anyone to enter the trade but also meant that an unconventional looking Rajpal Yadav gets to do lead roles and the likes of John Abraham attain superstardom.

Rajpal stars in his second lead role in "Main Meri Patni Aur Woh" that released Friday. An unthinkable feat in Bollywood of yesteryears. Rajpal has secured a position that the likes of Paresh Rawal, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah could not. Though global cinema lauded them, they had to do with two-bit roles in India. Gulshan Grover who has landed the lead villain's role in a James Bond film is the latest to join the list.

Director Chandan Arora's take on a small town person's daily struggle to realize his small dreams has got top ratings. The film costars Rituparna Sengupta, Kay Kay Menon, Varun Bandola and Vinod Nagpal. Clearly, unconventional looks and loads of talent can help you make it in Bollywood of today.

In recent years, there have been scene-stealing character actors like Amrish Puri and Anupam Kher, but they could never make a film work by themselves. Paresh Rawal managed to pull crowds following "Hera Pheri" and brought a new kind of respectability, stardom even, to the character actor.

In the Hindi film industry, there is an artificial divide between "star" and "actor". It is about time the industry started to appreciate the actors who are not necessarily glamorous stars. For instance, anywhere else in the world, an actor of Naseeruddin Shah's calibre would have been a major star. Here he either works in offbeat films or gets roles completely unworthy of his talent. In India, because of the notion that a good actor cannot be a star and vice versa, a whole lot of brilliant talents have not got their due.

"Main Meri Patni Aur Woh" hits the silver screen along with Assamese director Jahnu Barua's "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" with Anupam Kher in the lead role of a retired teacher who loses his mental stability. The director intends to reflect his stand against violence in the northeast.

The film has received glowing reviews for Anupam's performance. Urmila Matondkar who is cast as Anupam's daughter has also come in for special mention. The female actor has been gradually drifting away from mainstream masala movies into niche cinema.

She has done much to bridge the art-commerce divide. Says Deepa Gehlot, "In Bollywood if an actor did an 'art' film, the commercial filmmakers would think he/she is no longer interested in the song and dances of popular cinema, and that would mean the end of their career in mainstream films -- as Tabu must have found out after 'Maachis', 'Astittva' and 'Chandni Bar'."

With "Maine Gandhi...", Urmila's transition too seems to be complete. She belongs to the rare breed of stars that have no blood connection in Bollywood but have made it.

Leading the pack at the moment, however, is model-turned-actor John who belongs to a small town family with no connection to the film trade but is being touted as the poster-boy for urban India. The dimpled actor is probably the first urbanite superstar. Ditto for Preity Zinta, who unlike most Hindi film stars, likes to speak her mind and is not afraid to let the world know that she is a brainy one.

John's real life sweetheart Bipasha Basu as well is in close contention for the top slot among women actors. The couple is upfront about their live-in relationship. In a country where a reigning female actor - Khushboo - had to publicly apologize for airing her thoughts on pre-marital sex, Bipasha does not blink at the thought of working with her ex-flame Dino Morea.

Additionally, dusky beauties like Bipasha and Mallika Sherawat do not conform to traditional definition of beauty in a country whose colonial domination by British has made fairness a fetish. Clearly, audiences have matured and go for not just an actor who can act but also the image she or he represents.

Interestingly, the year 2005 has been unkind to several star children who occupied screen space but could not prove their worth. Be it Manisha Koirala's brother Siddhartha, Sunny and Bobby Deol's cousin Abhay or Romesh Sharma's son Karan Sharma. Success has evaded them all, making one wonder which trend to choose.

The battle between good looking stars and unconventional-looking talented actors is much like the constant tussle between star kids and those who make it on their own steam. Star kids defend themselves by saying it is tougher for them: a golden lineage amounts to great expectations. The strugglers complain that star kids get success and the best of banners on a platter.

If the current trends continue, it seems that Bollywood will be dominated by actors who have oodles of talent with or without conventional good looks and the born-with-a-silver-spoon status.