5 Times a Bollywood Actress Broke the Stereotypes

From time immemorial, films were all about the male protagonist, while female actors were expected to play a pretty face to be wooed and won over by their male counterparts. This formula has been repeated endlessly in some very celebrated films over the years like DDLJ, Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha and Maine Pyaar Kiya.

However, this paradigm has now seen a shift, both in movies and advertising. Recently,  Alia Bhatt featured in a very non-traditional role where she featured as a taxi driver in a recent ad for MakeMyTrip. There have been numerous other instances of leading ladies of B-town taking up roles that are not only women-centric, but also roles which are ‘hatke’. These strong portrayals by actresses prove that a film can do equally well with a strong female protagonist.

Let’s take a look at 5 such roles played by Bollywood actresses over time:

1.  Deepika Padukone as Piku (Piku)

No other actress could have possibly topped this list other than the dimpled queen, Deepika Padukone, who won 7 awards for her performance as Piku!

Deepika broke all stereotypes by playing the role of a 30 plus unmarried woman, who also enjoys a successful career as an architect. Piku is an independent woman who not only takes her own decisions, but also takes care of her ageing father. Piku could have been the story of any other ordinary Indian girl and her elderly father, but it was because of the performances of Deepika Padukone and Amitabh Bachchan that the characters were humorous, yet very relatable. 

 

2.  Alia Bhatt as Veera (Highway)

Alia Bhatt proved that she was more than just a pretty face by her stunning performance in Imtiaz Ali’s Highway. Bhatt silenced her critics by her extraordinary portrayal of Veera Tripathi, a young girl who is kidnapped and who eventually develops Stockholm Syndrome. Alia Bhatt won the Stardust Award for “Superstar of Tomorrow” for this role. 

3.  Tabu  as Mumtaz (Chandni Bar)

With a list of stellar performances under her belt, Tabu has proven her mettle as an actor extraordinaire over the years. One of her performances that truly stood out was her depiction of Mumtaz, a bar dancer in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Chandni Bar. The maturity and poise with which Tabu played the character won her not only a lot of praise and applause, but also a National Award. 

4.  Priyanka Chopra as Jhilmil (Barfi)

Priyanka Chopra’s portrayal of an autistic young girl Jhilmil Chaterjee won her many hearts and also a lot of critical acclaim. Though the story was about a deaf and mute boy named Murphy or ‘Barfi’ (played by Ranbir Kapoor), Priyanka Chopra’s innocent portrayal of Jhilmil touched many who watched the film.

5.  Kangana Ranaut as Rani (Queen)

A coming of age film of a young girl Rani, Queen turned out to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2014. With Kanagan Ranaut playing the lead, Queen is a heart warming story of Rani, a simple girl from Rajori in Delhi, who gets stood up by her fiance a few days before her wedding. The film follows her journey as she embarks on a solo honeymoon to Paris and Amsterdam and her adventures along the way. Kangana blew everyone away with her outstanding performance and even took home a National Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role for this film. 

The list of films with actresses playing strong protagonists is increasing by the day and is undoubtedly a refreshing change. With films like “The Dirty Picture”, “Magarita With a Straw” and “Kahani”, Bollywood’s leading ladies are proving that there’s more to them than just their looks. It’s time to watch out for these power women!