There were lots of people who made a mark in 2011 through their performances and made their presence felt, irrespective of how the film  fared. Here's a look at all of them ..

Kriti Malhotra 

She got a call due to one of her photo on facebook, did audition and got selected to do character of Yasmin in Dhobi Ghat. She was the one that most people loved the most, even the ones who didn't like the film. She had the connectivity power in her performance, the straightforward, less educated(as seen by her handling camera), simple dressed and full of emotions. A very good debut!

Vivaan Shah

Personally, his performance was exceptional for me. I feel he is much different from Imaad Shah, as imaad appears to be acting like his father Naseeruddin. But Vivaan, is different, though on the similar league of his father, the style is not the same. He had the maximum role among all the male leads in 7 khoon maaf, despite being a debutant and how easily he played the cute, sweet and loving 'Sugar'.

Sanjay Suri

He was excellent as Abhimanyu in 'I am', the kind of pain he goes through in childhood and tries to cope with his life. as all those terrible memories keep haunting him. It was the most emotional story out of all four in the film, and his performance made it even more impactful.

Rayo Bakhirta, Devyendu Sharma and Kartikeya Tiwari 

The bonding of this trio was the best part in a otherwise over-rated film 'Pyar ka Punchnama'. Also, very good nicknames given to them, specially Liquid and Rajjo. Chowdhary is the coolest one, Liquid the aggressive one and Rajjo the emotional one. All three perfectly suited their characters.

Partho A.Gupte

He played 'Stanley' in Stanley ka dabba. As a child actor, he made a very good mark. I feel he should get the same amount of praise and applause which Darsheel once got. The final scene of the film is simply heart breaking, and Partho never over-plays any scene in the film. A very good find!

Nana Patekar 

As a corrupt policeman, he was at his near best in 'Shagird'. Had the film been well-edited and with more twists, it would had done well. Nana very much carried the film through his performance.

Shraddha Kapoor

She may had made her debut in Teen Patti. But, Love ka the end was the film that gave her the 1st lead role film. Though the film couldn't work due to not so interesting screenplay, and writing too. Yet, Shraddha Kapoor had lots of good moments in the film, plus she looks very cute and beautiful. I specially loved her in 'Tonight' song a lot.

Gulshan Devaiya

He was excellent in both his films 'Shaitan' and 'That girl in yellow boots'. While, his performance as KC was very good in Shaitan, his two scenes in TGIYB i.e tv one and massage one, were mindblowing. I prefer Shaitan over TGIYB though, probably because it was a lengthy role, while the other one had him in more of a cameo.

Prashant Narayanan

He stole the show in Murder 2, the villianeous act was too good and for me worth of a nomination in every award shows. And special mention to the way he sings the old song 'bheege honth tere', and the menacing laugh.

Saqeeb Saleem and Saba Azaad

The duo had an amazing chemistry in their debut film. Saba ofcourse I loved a lot because of her looks, so cute she is. Also, acting wise, both were excellent and rarely appeared like debutants.

Parineeti Chopra

Another debutant that made her mark in 2011, who would had thought that instead of Ranveer or Anushka, the name stuck on their mind after watching Ladies vs Ricky Behl would be 'Parineeti Chopra'. She was that good! Her comic timing, dialogue delivery were spot on, and even looks-wise appeared to be just as she says 'I am looking red hot'.