After enthralling audiences with her voice in Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005, Twinkle Bajpai forayed into films and even starred opposite Manoj Bajpai in her second project, Lanka (top)

Once upon a time they were just anonymous faces in the crowd. And then life changed after they took the plunge and bared all in the brutal world of reality TV.

But for a handful, fame has not been ephemeral. With a mix of luck and sheer grit, they’ve turned the brief glow of reality TV fame into high-profile careers that could run and run. Let’s take a look at some of the lucky ones.

Twinkle Bajpai, 24

The career path of Twinkle Bajpai (she’s now taken on the screen name Tia Bajpai) is on the upswing. Twinkle took a shot at stardom in 2005 when she was just 17. She recalls being desperate to become a singer and signed up for an audition on the super-popular music show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. She made an impression on the show, both for her singing and her stand-out looks, which ensured audiences didn’t forget her.

“Reality shows gave me recognition and popularity but the real struggle started after it got over,” says Twinkle in matter-of-fact tones.

She made it to the finals of the contest but in the end it was her looks that worked in her favour and helped her land a role in Vikram Bhatt’s maiden 3D movie, Haunted. Bhatt had actually met her with an offer to produce a solo album of her songs. Says Twinkle: “But when I met Vikram, he offered me the role of Meera in Haunted.”

Bhatt was sufficiently impressed by her and signed her on for a second time in Lanka in which she starred opposite Manoj Bajpai. Today, the youngster is also busy shooting with Aftab Shivdasani in the sequel to 1920, a horror flick.

Don’t imagine that Twinkle’s story is one of instant fame and success. She struggled initially, going for scores of auditions. She says: “Initially, it was tough getting work but I knew I had to work hard.”

Post-Sa Re Ga Ma Pa she got her first TV break with Ghar ki Lakshmi Betiyann for Zee TV. Then switched to the long-running Kyunki...Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi.... Besides that, she grabbed other offers too and hosted several singing shows for Zee Arabia, a channel aimed at viewers in the Middle East. She did other forgettable TV shows before taking a break in 2008. “It was too taxing as I ended up working 16 hours a day,” she says. But she hit lucky in 2009 after meeting Bhatt.

Today, Twinkle has even bought a house in Versova. And she’s hoping that if she works hard, there’ll be even better times ahead.

Vishal Karwal, winner of MTV’s Splitsvilla-2, is busy playing the role of Krishna in Dwarkadheesh Bhagwaan Shree Krishn (top)

Vishal Karwal, 27

Life has had its ups and downs for Vishal Karwal, the winner of Splitsvilla Season-2, the popular television reality show on MTV. He was also a contestant on Roadies-4, the rough-and-tough road show where competitors have to perform a variety of difficult and unpleasant task. But even after appearing on these shows, he had stuck to his original plan of training as a commercial pilot. His hopes were grounded by the economic meltdown of 2008-09. “There were no jobs anywhere and I was desperate to land a job,” says Vishal remembering a grim period in his life.

Partly out of desperation — and partly just for a lark — Vishal took a rather unusual step: he decided to audition for Sabki Jodi Wohi Banaata... Bhagyavidhaata on Colors. He says: “To my surprise, I bagged the lead role of a rural boy.”

Vishal hasn’t looked back since. In 2009 he went on to play the lead role in Rishton Se Badi Pratha, another popular daily soap on Colors.

His luck has held and today Vishal is busy playing the role of Krishna in Dwarkadheesh Bhagwaan Shree Krishn being aired on NDTV Imagine.

With no formal training in acting, Karwal had a hard time initially: “I used to blurt out the lines unmindful of emotions or the diction,” he says.

Since films are a natural progression for most telly actors, Vishal’s also taking the same route. He has just finished shooting for a Punjabi film, Apaan Fir Milenge, which also stars Gracy Singh of Lagaan fame.

Suzanna Mukherjee, 24

Earlier this year, Suzanna Mukherjee of Roadies-6 fame made her debut in the Hindi film, Tutiya Dil (top)

“Suzanna is super-confident and lights up scenes,” says film critic, Taran Adarsh of Suzanna’s performance in her debut movie, Tutiya Dil. The movie, which released this January, revolves around Suzanna’s character, Rhea Kapoor. Though the movie went largely unnoticed, Suzanna — a former Roadies’ contestant — managed to make a mark.

She made her shot for fame back in 2006 while she was studying for her MBA. “I was studying in Pune when I heard about the auditions of Roadies-6. I thought of giving it a try,” she says. She made it to Roadies-6.

Post the show her father gave her two months to decide on what she wanted to do next. “Failing which, I would have to return to Pune to help him out in his business,” she says. Suzanna decided to give acting a shot and she bagged a role in Basera, an NDTV Imagine show, in which she played the role of Ujjwala, sister to the female lead.

But she soon decided that acting in TV soaps was not really her cup of tea. “I was embarrassed to see myself on TV and swore to never work in soaps ever again.”

Suzanna shot for few TV commercials and a sitcom produced by Channel V called Roomies, before getting the big break of her life — Tutiya Dil.

Amit Khanna, director, Tutiya Dil and writer of Roomies says: “She’s a very good actor. Even though I knew her from her Roomies days, she went through the auditions and pipped almost 800 girls to bag the role.”

Mauli Dave, 24

Singer Mauli Dave shot into the limelight with Sa Re Ga Ma (top) in 2007 and her rendition of the title song of Players has cemented her position in the Indian music industry

It was a long haul for Mauli Dave, who came from Texas, USA, to make it as a finalist on Sa Re Ga Ma-2007. On the show, her rendition of the song Maiyya Maiyya from the film Guru hugely impressed the judges and Bappi Lahiri even started calling her ‘Indian Shakira’.

After the show, Mauli was flooded with offers for stage shows. “I have now done more than 150 shows,” says an elated Mauli. Then, in 2011, Mauli participated in Khatron Ke Khiladi hosted by Akshay Kumar, and ended as runner-up.

Slowly, her career began to take off. She started getting offers for playback singing for films including Jai Veeru (Aagre Ka Ghagra with Javed Ali and Raja Hassan) and Mittal vs Mittal (Khuda Hafiz). She was nominated for the Stardust and Mirchi Music Awards in the Upcoming Singer category and also won the Garvvati Gujarat Award in 2010.

More recently, her rendition of the title song of Players, starring Bipasha Basu and Abhishek Bachchan, is not only winning her accolades but has also cemented her position in the Indian music industry.

Mohit Malhotra, 24

After making a TV debut on Splitsvilla-2 in 2009, Mohit Malhotra is now honing his acting skills in Balaji Telefilms’ popular soap, Bade Achhe Laggte Hain (top)

The guy with an infectious smile — that’s how many TV viewers remember Mohit Malhotra, the runner-up of Splitsvilla-2 in 2009. Mohit had always wanted to be an actor but he never really thought that a reality show would do the trick for him. “Not many of my co-contestants got as much footage as I did,” he says.

But he landed many roles after the show including the lead role in Mitwa —Phool Kamal Ke, a daily soap on Star Plus (2010) where he played the role of Birju, a lower caste boy. The Delhi lad has also done Andhera, a horror show by Vikram Bhatt on Colors apart from a few TV commercials, where he’s rubbed shoulders with Bollywood actors including Sonakshi Sinha. Currently, he is busy with Balaji Telefilms’ biggest soap on air, Bade Achhe Laggte Hain, where he plays the brother of Sakshi Tanwar, the female lead of the show.

“People now call me Karthik (his on-screen character),” says the actor, who lives in Mumbai with his brother.

Riya Bamniyal, 24

After winning Splitsvilla-3 Riya Bamniyal made her Bollywood debut in Luv Ka the End; Photograph courtesy Yash Raj Films

Riya Bamniyal started out as a model. But after winning Splitsvilla-3 she made her Bollywood debut last year in Luv Ka the End produced under the banner of Yash Raj Films.

Riya was already a successful model by the time she appeared on the reality show. She had a fair number of TV and print commercials to her credit.

While she’s enthusiastic about the visibility that follows a reality show, Riya says that there are drawbacks too. “People have pre-conceived notions about you. So, it gets a little difficult to break through the image.”

Surprisingly, Riya was never the first choice for ‘Bumpy’ Vivek Bhushan, the director of Luv Ka the End. “She was only a replacement for an actor who backed out at the last minute and I was very apprehensive about it,” he says.

He adds: “There are so many youngsters who want to get into films. The popularity can only get you small roles, but to survive in the industry, you better be good.”