WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT: Bollywood is redefining women in a slew of upcoming films. But how many will be authentic portrayals?

Women-centric films have not quite been commonplace in Bollywood traditionally. Largely a man's domain, the Hindi film industry has mostly reserved glamour roles for its heroine with only stray instances proving otherwise.

A slew of heroine-oriented films coming up marks a welcome departure from that tendency, although it is too early to say if it will spark off a trend. Of course, these films may not drastically define womanhood in real India. What catches the eye, though, is the variety in interpretation of womanhood that these upcoming films strive to attain.

Vidya Balan has been a pioneer in redefining women oriented cinema lately, with her unconventional roles in Ishqiya, The Dirty Picture and Kahaani. She will now play a female detective in Bobby Jasoos, an unprecedented experiment for any lead actress in Bollywood.



Girl Power: In Gulab Gang, Madhuri plays a social crusader who takes to violence to protect women's rights

Madhuri Dixit and Rani Mukerji get into the action mode with upcoming films, although in different ways. Rani plays a tough cop in Mardaani, spewing strong dialogues and engaging in raw violence. Madhuri will be seen playing a social crusader who takes to violence to protect women's rights in Gulab Gang. Her character is said to be a glamorised update on Sampat Pal, real-life crusader who worked with her Gulabi Gang to ensure women's rights in the Bundelkhand region.

Ex-porn star Sunny Leone will add a dash of oomph to horror in Ragini MMS 2 while Kangna Ranaut will bring to life the dying kotha culture with her role of a mujrewaali in Rajjo. Next year, Kangna also plays a gangster in Revolver Rani and a simple Delhi girl struggling to come to terms with love in Queen.

The variety in roles for heroines in Bollywood is obviously happening because a new set of filmmakers are keen to explore different aspects of womanhood.

"Such films state that actresses have something to prove. You just need to give them the right opportunity. It is a healthy trend and the box-office success of the genre proves people want to watch more such films," says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

In such films notably the male characters play little or no role. "With the kind of scripts being written, women can very well carry films on their own shoulders now. The story becomes more important than stars in such movies. If there is no need for a male lead, there is no point forcing one into the story," reasons Adarsh.

KANGNA RANAUT plays a mujrewaali in RAJJO

Vishwas Patil's Rajjo sees Kangna essaying the role of a mujrewaali in a contemporary small town, at a time when the kotha culture is dying. Parallel to the socio-cultural context of a nautch girl's life is her love story. Muslim girl Rajjo falls in love with a Hindu boy, played by debutant Paras Arora.

USP:Rajjo comes at a time when the nautch girl as a protagonist and the kotha as the backdrop of Bollywood drama have all but disappeared. This, along with the splendidly-filmed dances on Kangna, has added to the curiosity value about the film. At a time when the Bollywood song-and-dance routine has elaborately gone western, Rajjo will try to recreate an authentic ethnic aura. This gives the film its USP.

CO-STARRING: Paras Arora, Mahesh Manjrekar and Prakash Raj.



Kangna (left) plays a amujrewaalier in Rajjo while Rani plays a tough cop in Mardaani

MADHURI DIXIT plays a social crusader in GULAB GANG

Gulab Gang is reportedly inspired by the real-life women's activist group, Gulabi Gang, which did not hesitate resorting to violence to fight injustice, particularly against women. Madhuri Dixit's role is said to be based on the gang leader, Sampat Pal, who became a household name when she appeared on Bigg Boss season 6 last year.



USP: The social messiah who takes to violence to protect the downtrodden has mostly been imagined as a man in Bollywood, except for the few films that used to cast the heroine as a do-gooder dacoit queen. In Soumik Sen's Gulab Gang, Madhuri's fearless gang leader is not an outlaw. Also, based on a true story it lets her explore raw violence for the first time.



CO-STARRING: Juhi Chawla, Tanishtha Chatterjee, Priyanka Bose and Divya Jagdale.

RANI MUKERJI plays a tough cop in MARDAANI

Rani's last outing Aiyyaa was a mainstream dud that saw her play a bubbly dreamer and the script also gave her scope for a couple of raunchy item numbers. For her comeback in 2014, Rani is all set to go raw and gutsy as a no-nonsense cop. The Yash Raj Films-produced crime drama showcases gritty violence, giving Rani a break from her nice girl-next-door image. Mardaani is directed by Pradeep Sarkar, best known for Parineeta.



USP: There have been female cops in Bollywood films before but what Mardaani visualises for Rani is a hardcore action heroine as never before. Rani fans can look forward to a makeover from her usual image. This will be Rani's first real violent film.



CO-STARRING: Undecided as of now.









