Not too long ago, Bollywood heroines were considered mere furniture. The moveable variety, of course — the kind that did a jig and shed a tear on demand. But that phase is passé. The Hindi film heroine seems to be coming into her own and how! From Vidya Balan's gritty portrayal of Sabrina Lall in No One Killed Jessica to her no-holds-barred act in Ishqiya and The Dirty Picture , to Kareena's back-to-back Rs. 100 crore plus hits and Katrina's brand magic, actresses are getting their due in this male-dominated industry.
The reasons could be many. There are more films with heroine-oriented subjects nowadays and the leading lady has a towering brand presence. Unlike the solitary Sridevi or Madhuri of yesteryear, now more and more actresses are having a say in filmmaking. Not satisfied with being mere wallflowers, today's actresses are learning to say ‘no' when they want to and demand what they deserve. A quick look at the power list.
Bebo, the Saif bet
Kareena Kapoor has had the time of her life in Bollywood in the last couple of years. She has worked with the most powerful male actors — the three Khans, Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir — and has given blockbusters with all three ( Bodyguard, Ra.One and 3 Idiots ). She is the only heroine to have four Rs. 100-crore plus collectors ( Golmaal 3, besides the three listed above) in the last two years. With that kind of record, she was the obvious choice for Madhur Bhandarkar, even before he signed on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for Heroine . But Kareena had no dates then, and Aishwarya was signed on. But after Ash became pregnant, Madhur once again had to approach Kareena who apparently asked for Rs. 8 crore. Madhur agreed, making her the highest paid actress in Bollywood! The buzz now is Kareena has asked for a share in the pie of profits from the film. She reckons it will be a sounder decision than asking for a flat amount. According to reports, Madhur has agreed to that too.
Back in the Race
She's not from the film industry but she has learnt the tricks of the trade soon. Deepika Padukone walked out of Ramesh Taurani's Abbas-Mustan directed Race 2 at the eleventh hour, citing non-availability of dates. When producer Taurani threatened her with legal action, Deepika reportedly sat across the table and dictated a few terms to him if she were to come back. One of them was a tight leash on the shooting schedule and the other, a say in the film's release date, it is being reported. The film has a multi-star cast and probably the actress has even spoken about her role but reports are not yet confirmed on that front. Result? Deepika is part of the team once more and the producer is reportedly denying there was ever a fight!
Kat has the cream
Katrina possibly herself had no idea what lay in store for her. Especially, after that dud called Boom . The lady is now a must-have for any director. She is giving strong competition to her contemporary — the other KK, by working with all the three Khans this year. She has Ek Tha Tiger with Salman, Dhoom 3 with Aamir and an untitled film with Shah Rukh. She wears her queen's crown casually and denies being part of the power game but she is there all right. Her brand endorsements have increased from cosmetics to flavoured drinks to electronics. Katrina has begun to feel the power.
Dirty’s clean sweep
Vidya Balan is currently on top of the A-list. The Dirty Picture is being touted as the game-changer in many ways for Hindi film actresses and has catapulted Vidya to the very top. The medium-budget film collected Rs. 125 crore at last count. Despite the presence of three male actors in the film, Vidya carried it pretty much on her shoulders in an author-backed role.
Vidya has become the toast of B-town almost overnight. From having just one small-budget film, Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani (which incidentally has benefited greatly from The Dirty Picture 's success), Vidya is being hounded by filmmakers now. She was immediately signed on for her first ‘item' number in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Ferrari Ki Sawaari. She has also signed a comedy film Ghanchakkar with Emraan Hashmi.
