In Bollywood, rise of the heroines

Highlights

• With women-centric films like Kareena Kapoor's Heroine, Rani Mukherjee's Aiyyaa and Sridevi's comeback English Vinglish set to take centrestage in the coming months in Bollywood, heroines are ready to battle it out at the box office.
• The year began with Vidya Balan's Kahaani. The actress, who had already challenged the male dominion at the box office last year with her superhit The Dirty Picture, broke many stereotypes with the thriller.
• The film had a seven-month pregnant heroine without any recognisable stars apart from Vidya Balan but managed to earn critical acclaim as well as audience's love.
• Bipasha Basu, whose past few films failed to find audience, delivered a hit with horror Raaz 3 with her portrayal of a fading superstar obssessed with her career. The Bong beauty, who recognises that Bollywood is male dominated, is happy that there is a small opening for female centric roles nowadays.
• "Bollywood is very hero centric because they pull in crowd. However, there is a small opening for actresses too and I am happy to be a part of it. People want to have women as protagonists and these are not feminist films. These are interesting stories told where heroines can have substantial roles," Bipasha told PTI.
• Even Kareena Kapoor, who is largely seen playing the glam doll in hero-centric films, will be seen carrying Madhur Bhandarkar's next Heroine on her shoulders. Releasing on September 21, the film again is about a declining superstar.
• "I am happy that Heroine has turned out to be my bravest role. Not many actresses would dare to play the role of a declining superstar," Kareena said.
• Contemporary stars Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee, who were written off by film pundits after being absent from the big screens, are gearing up to reinstate their position in Bollywood with Ishkq In Paris and Aiyyaa this October.
• Preity will make a comeback on the big screen with her production debut after a gap of four years. The film is set to release on October 5.
• Ishkq In Paris is a romantic film on the journey of two complete strangers, who end up spending the evening together in the romantic city of Paris.
• While Rani, who was last seen playing a headstrong journalist in No One Killed Jessica last year, is back to scorch the silver screen with back-to-back films --romantic comedy Aiyyaa on October 12 and thriller Talaash opposite Aamir Khan on November 30.
• In Aiyyaa, Rani plays a Marathi girl, who is an ardent fan of Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla and lives in her fantasy world all the time. All hell breaks loose when she falls in love with a Tamil actor played by Prithviraj Sukumaran.
• Sridevi, who ruled the silver screen with films like Sadma, Chandni, Mr India and Lamhe, will be back on the big screen after a gap of nearly 15 years with English Vinglish.
• The 49-year-old actress plays the central role of a conservative Indian housewife burdened with an ungrateful family. The story evolves as she rediscovers her self-esteem by sneaking off to English lessons during a visit to New York for a family wedding.
• English Vinglish has been directed by filmmaker R Balki's wife Gauri Shinde and made its gala premiere in Toronto international film festival recently to great response.