Apart from all the famous societies and all the fun stories that surround Delhi University, here is why it is considered a dream University by most! It inspires some, makes others apprehensive, but in assured terms, it justifies all the air about DU and the collar-up demeanour the students exhibit.

Here are some inspirational and famous alumni of our beloved Delhi University!

1. Amitabh Bachchan

The pioneer of the ‘Angry Young Man’ culture in Bollywood and the Shehenshah of Hindi cinema, he has appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades and is just unstoppable, especially with his Hollywood debut In The Great Gatsby.

DU Connection | Kirori Mal College
Claim to Fame | Zanjeer (1973), Sholay (1975), Baghban (2003)

2. Amitav Ghosh

He is an Indian Bengali writer best known for his works in the English language. Winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, he famously withdrew his novel, ‘The Glass Palace’ from the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize citing his objection to the word ‘commonwealth’ and the English language-based rules.

DU Connection | St. Stephens & Delhi School of Economics
Claim to Fame | The Glass Palace (2000), Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011)

3. Sidharth Malhotra

Student of the Year, Sidharth Malhotra is an Indian actor and former model who appears in Bollywood films. Malhotra began a career as a model at the age of 18. Dissatisfied by the profession, he went on to work as an assistant director to Karan Johar in the 2010 film My Name Is Khan.

DU Connection | Shaheed Bhagat Singh College
Claim to Fame | Kapoor & Sons (2016), Ek Villain (2014), Student of the Year (2012)

4. Aung San Suu Kyi

She is a Burmese opposition politician and the chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma. She has won many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She is also the first woman to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, the Minister of the President's Office, the Minister of Electric Power and Energy.

DU Connection | Lady Shri Ram College
Claim to Fame | Renowned Freedom Fighter, House arrest from 20th July 1989 to 13th November 2010

5. Kiran Bedi

Kiran Bedi is an Indian social activist and a retired Indian Police Service officer. She was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award and also founded two NGOs in India - Navjyoti India Foundation and India Vision Foundation for prison reformation.

DU Connection | Faculty of Law (University of Delhi), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
Claim to Fame | First Female to join the Indian Police Service; Held the post of the Director-General at the Bureau of Police Research and Development

6. Shah Rukh Khan

Known as the ‘King of Romance’ or ‘King Khan’, SRK is considered to be one of the biggest film stars in Bollywood. He started his career in a television series called Fauji and thereafter moved onto movies acting in genres ranging from romance, thrillers, actions to dramas. He has acted in over 75 Hindi films.

DU Connection | St. Columba's School, Hans Raj College, National School of Drama (Delhi)
Claim to Fame | Deewana (1992), Darr (1993), Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995)

7. Imtiaz Ali

He is a talented Indian film director, actor and writer and made his directorial debut in ‘Socha Na Tha’ back in 2005. He’s made some of the biggest movies in the past few years, some of his movies even portray the DU Student life in the movie, Rockstar.

DU Connection | Hindu College, Started Ibtida- the dramatics society of Hindu college
Claim to Fame | Tamasha (2015), Rockstar (2011), Jab We Met (2007)

8. Late Sheila Dikshit

Picture Credits: santoshjakhar.rajasthan

Sheila Dikshit was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of Delhi from 1998 to 2013. She was a member of the Indian National Congress and a representative of the New Delhi constituency in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. Dikshit led the Congress to three consecutive electoral victories in Delhi.

DU Connection | Convent of Jesus and Mary & Miranda House
Claim to Fame | Chief Minister of Delhi since 1998. Led the party to a record of three consecutive electoral victories in Delhi

9. Manoj Bajpayee

He is an Indian film actor best known for playing unconventional and avant-garde roles. He too started his career through a television series that brought him into the limelight. He was awarded the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Satya’ in 1999 & also awarded the National Film-Special Jury Award for ‘Pinjar’ in 2000.

DU Connection | Ramjas College
Claim to Fame | Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Rajneeti (2010), Satya (1998)

10. Meira Kumar

She is a lawyer and a former diplomat and also served as a Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of Manmohan Singh’s Congress-led Government (2004-2009).

DU Connection | Indraprastha College & Miranda House
Claim to Fame | Elected as the first woman speaker of Lok Sabha on 3rd June, 2009

11. Late Arun Jaitley

He was a Senior Advocate in SC and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He was also the President of Delhi University’s Student Union in 1974 and later became the Finance Minister, Minister of Corporate Affairs in the Cabinet of India.

DU Connection | SRCC
Claim to Fame | Held the portfolios as the Union Cabinet Minister for Commerce and Industry, Law and Justice in the NDA government in 1998-2004, former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

12. Arjun Rampal

He is an Indian film actor, producer, model and television personality. Through his career in Bollywood movies, he has established himself as a leading actor in Bollywood. He made his acting debut in Rajiv Rai's romance Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat in 2001.

DU Connection | Economics honours from Hindu College.
Claim to Fame | Breakthrough in Don in 2006. Om Shanti Om (2007), Rock On!! (2008), Housefull (2010) and Ra.One (2011) all fetched him numerous accolades.

13. Konkona Sensharma

Konkona Sensharma is an Indian actress and director. The daughter of the veteran filmmaker-actress Aparna Sen, she appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.

Du Connection | St Stephen's College
Claim to Fame | Mr and Mrs Iyer (2002), Omkara (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007) and Wake up Sid (2009)

14. Anurag Kashyap

He is one of the most well-known film writer, director, producer, and actor. He is often regarded as the face of an emerging new wave cinema for producing numerous independent films with newcomers. For his contributions to film, the Government of France awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2013.

DU Connection | Hans Raj College
Claim to Fame | Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Bombay Talkies (2013), and Bombay Velvet (2015).

15. Huma Qureshi

Huma Saleem Qureshi is an Indian actress and model. Previously she has worked in various television advertisements and theatrical productions. Qureshi made her film debut with a supporting role in the two-part crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). Her performance in the film earned her several nominations

DU Connection | Gargi College
Claim to Fame | Gangs of Wasseypur Part 1 & 2 (2012) & Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana(2012)

16. Aditi Rao Hydari

Aditi Rao Hydari is an Indian film actress who works predominantly in the Hindi and Tamil language films. A classical Bharatanatyam dancer, she made her acting debut with Sharada Ramanathan's acclaimed film Sringaram.

DU Connection | Lady Shri Ram College
Claim to Fame | Rockstar (2011), Murder 3 (2013), Wazir (2016) and Fitoor (2016).

17. Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor is an Indian politician, writer and former international diplomat who has been serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Well known for his great English wordplay and extreme knowledge of words, he’s also a well-renowned author.

DU Connection | St. Stephen’s college
Claim To Fame | Pax Indica (2012), India: From Midnight to the Millennium (1997) An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India(2017)

18. Rajkummar Rao

Rajkummar Rao is an Indian actor, known for playing unconventional and complicated roles in Hindi cinema and shot to fame after his fabulous performance in the film, ‘Kai Po Che!’ in 2013. He has also been awarded the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor.

DU Connection | The Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College
Claim To Fame | Queen (2014), Aligarh (2016) and Stree (2018)

19. Kapil Sibal

Kapil Sibal is an Indian Politician and a well-known lawyer and has served many terms at the helm of several government ministries, beginning with the Ministry of Science & Technology, then the Ministry of Human Resource Development followed by the Ministry of Communications & IT, and the Ministry of Law & Justice.

DU Connection | Faculty of Law & St. Stephen’s College
Claim To Fame | Additional Solicitor General of India (1989 - 1990)

20. Subramanian Swamy

Subramanian Swamy served as an economics professor initially at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is now a politician, economist, and statistician. He has also served as a member of the Planning Commission of India and was a Cabinet Minister in the Chandra Shekhar government.

DU Connection | Hindu College
Claim To Fame | Chairman of the Commission on Labour Standards and International Trade under former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao.

21. Mallika Sherawat

Mallika Sherawat is an Indian actress who works in Hindi movies and has established herself as a reckoning force in the Bollywood industry. She is also one of the few Bollywood actresses who has crossed over to Hollywood and has done movies like ‘Hisss’ (2010) & ‘Politics of Love’ (2011).

DU Connection | Miranda House
Claim To Fame | Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006)

22. Late Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh was a notable Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician, who has extensively written about his experience in the 1947 Partition of India, inspiring his most well-known novel, ‘Train to Pakistan’ in 1956, which was also made into a film in 1998!

DU Connection | St. Stephen's College
Claim To Fame | Train to Pakistan (1956), Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 which he returned in 1984, in protest against Operation Blue Star, wherein the Indian Army raided Amritsar.

23. Neha Dhupia

Neha Dhupia is a famous Indian actress and model who works in Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam and even Japanese films. She has won the Femina Miss India 2002 pageant and was among the top 10 finalists in Miss Universe in the same year.

DU Connection | Jesus And Mary College
Claim To Fame | Dus Kahaniyaan (2007), Julie (2004)

24. Sanya Malhotra

Sanya Malhotra is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films and rose to fame with the role of Babita Kumari in the biographical sports film Dangal and also starred in the comedy-drama Badhaai Ho, with veteran Bollywood actors, both of which rank among the highest-grossing Indian films.

DU Connection | Gargi College
Claim To Fame | Dangal (2016), Badhaai Ho (2018), Shakuntala Devi (2020)

So for all those aspiring students, looking for some inspiration to strive forward, take pride to be a part of DU and carry the name forward.

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