Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap star in the experimental film by Netflix called, AK Vs AK. The title stands for Anurag Kashyap Vs Anil Kapoor. In the movie, Anurag and Anil play fictionalised versions of themselves on the screen. Anurag plays a director, who forces superstar Anil into working in his reality-film by kidnapping his daughter, Sonam Kapoor. Yea, she also plays herself on the screen. Earlier, Netflix released the series, Masaba Masaba, where celebrated designer Masaba Gupta played a fictionalised version of herself. This won't be the first instances of when a celebrity would be a playing a fictionalised version of themselves on screen. Matt LeBlanc played himself on the TV show, Episodes. Masaba Masaba: From Kiara Advani to Malavika Mohanan, All the Celeb Cameos in Masaba, Neena Gupta’s Netflix Series (SPOILER ALERT).

There have been numerous projects in Bollywood where actors have played themselves on screen in cameo appearances. Denise Richards plays a fictionalised version of herself in the Akshay Kumar movie, Kambakht Ishq. Remember Govinda and Juhi Chalwa in Andaaz Apna Apna? Salman Khan has done it twice - Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and Phata Poster Nikla Hero. Katrina Kaif played herself for a segment in Bombay Talkies. Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan played their fictional selves in Ki & Ka. Priyanka Chopra, Suniel Shetty, Ranbir Kapoor have all done it! AK Vs AK Trailer: Anil Kapoor Searching For Kidnapped Sonam Kapoor And Anurag Kashyap Mocking Him Looks Raw And Real (Watch Video).

Today, we are going to list down the movies, where actors playing a version of themselves was a key element in the plot - something pivotal and not just a celebrity appearance.

Rishi Kapoor in Chintu Ji

Rishi Kapoor plays a fictionalised version of himself who joins the politics. Though, he continues to make movies after moving to a small town to realise his political dreams.

Dharmendra in Guddi

Jaya Bachchan made her Hindi movie debut with this film by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. She played a girl obsesses with Dharmendra, who played himself.

Sunny Leone in Ragini MMS Returns

It doesn't get more meta than this. In this horror film, Sunny Leone plays herself, an actress, who is working a movie where she has to play a character named Ragini, who in turn is a fictionalised version of the main lead of the prequel to Ragini MMS. Wait, there is more. And Ragini MMS, the original, was said to be based on a true story. Yes, tough to follow.

Akshay Kumar in The Shaukeens

Akshay Kumar played a version of himself in the film, The Shaukeens. Lisa Haydon's character is obsessed with him, while three really old men are obsessed with her. Funny movie, check it out.

Khamosh

Directed and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the movie features a host of actors playing themselves on the screen. Amol Palekar, Soni Razdan and Shabana Azmi played fictionalised versions of themselves on screen in this film about a murder mystery on a movie set.

Teesra Kaun

In this 1994 thriller, Mithun Chakraborty appears in an extended cameo to play himself on the screen. The movie did not fare well for Chunky Pandey, who was playing the lead role. He moved to Bangladesh after this.

Watch The Full Movie Here:

Welcome To New York

This might be the unfunniest movie made in Bollywood for a long time. The only thing that we can appreciate this movie is for its effort at meta humour. Karan Johar plays a fictionalised version of himself on the screen, along with playing another character called Arjun.

"As himself" has become a very popular trope in entertainment. by default, it adds a dash of humour and intrigue when a celebrity plays himself on the screen. Can you think of any such examples? Let us know by tweeting to us @latestly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 23, 2020 02:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).