Sure Bollywood is a male dominated industry, where the 40 something heroes with their chiselled six packs and flexing muscles can still pass as young, affable college goers, woo the leading ladies, take on the villains with gusto, rock the dance floor with their shaking booties and rake in the moolah. Fortunately, there have been some fantastic films this year that had the ladies walk away with the cake. These movies were buoyed by the brilliant performance of the female stars and did amazingly well in the box office.
Deepika Padukone tops the chart wowing us with her stellar performance in back-to-back hits like “Piku”, “Tamasha” and “Bajirao Mastani”. She effortlessly managed to pull off a strong headed Piku, a madly-in-love warrior princess Mastani and a strong willed Tara in Tamasha. This doe-eyed, long legged beauty also openly spoke about her own sufferings due to clinical depression and how she fought her inner demons.
Kangana Ranaut – Just when we thought this Bollywood Queen had showed us enough, she gave us “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” where she portrayed the double role of a bored housewife and a head strong Haryanvi sportsman, playing both the roles with equal candour and spirit. That the film raked in 150 crores is a proof of her talent and appeal. She delighted the audience later in “Katti Batti” by playing the character of a feisty girl who lives life on her own terms.
Anushka Sharma – Amidst the roaring controversies about her presence spelling doom for her boyfriend’s cricketing career, Anushka silenced her critics by her act. Her gutsy performance in “NH-10″, which incidentally also marks her production debut, won the hearts of both the masses and the classes. With two more films – “Dil Dhadakne Do” and “Bombay Velvet” under her belt this year, Anushka showed she is more than just an arm candy to Mr.Kohli. This talent power house also openly criticized the wage disparity that exists between the male and the female actors in Bollywood.
Priyanka Chopra-Ms.Piggy Chops after winning our hearts with her films like “Bajirao Mastani” and “Dil Dhadakne Do”, bagged the role of a super intelligent FBI agent in an American TV suspense thriller “Quantico”. The suave actress who is already an international name spoke openly about racism she had faced during her school days in US.
Kalki Koechlin – She bowled us over in “Margarita With A Straw” with a poignant portrayal of a wheel chair bound girl suffering from cerebral palsy which didn’t deter her free spirit from dreaming and desiring the very basic things of life. Kalki in her “Lalita” avatar made us smile, cry and fall in love with her, all over again.
Bhumi Pednekar – The concept of body shaming was brilliantly portrayed in “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” the debut film of Bhumi Pednekar who played the role of an overweight woman stuck in a loveless marriage and had the audience love her with the word “go”. With her pitch perfect performance as the young bride who stood for herself and not her size, Pednekar left a lasting impression in the minds of the viewers.
Radhika Apte – This girl next door, demure looking actress made all the right buzz this year. Radhika, in the sensuous character of Ahalya in a 14 minute short film by the same name, left us with fluttering hearts and wobbling knees. She became a nation-wide sensation overnight thus popularising the concept of Super Short films. Her performance in “Manjhi – The Mountain Man” won her critical acclaim too.
Here’s more to girl power!!
