5 Inspirational Female Characters From Bollywood Movies
Indian cinema is often accused of being extremely sexist. People assume that women are only used as props or objectified as arm candy in a story where the focus always remains on the male lead. However, there are Bollywood films which proved that women are much more than mannequins and item girls used to increase the box-office collections. These films have successfully portrayed the true strength of a woman. So, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, we list 5 Bollywood inspirational female characters from movies that truly inspired us.
1. Inspirational Female Characters - Alia Bhatt - Sehmat (Raazi)
Release Date: 11 May 2018
Director: Meghna Gulzar
Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat and Amruta Khanvilkar
Raazi was set in 1971, a time when tensions were extremely high between arch-rivals India and Pakistan. The two countries were on the brink of war and information was probably the most lethal weapon they could have at the time. Sehmat Khan (Alia Bhatt), a young Indian women is married to a highly ranked Pakistani army officer in order to help India get some intel about Pakistani military plans.
Through this story of Sehmat, Meghna Gulzar gives us a glimpse of the dangerous lives that agents lead just for their love of the country.
Alia Bhatt was seen in a different avatar compared to her usual roles. Even though her Bollywood female character was gritty, she also tears up frequently. She is quick to react at her task in hand, despite not being her habit. Her transformation in the film from an average Indian girl to a spy in a foreign land is not too dramatic but is a natural progression as she overcomes dangerous circumstances.
2.Inspirational Female Characters - Vidya Balan - Sulu (Tumhari Sulu)
Release Date: 17 November 2017
Director: Suresh Triveni
Cast: Vidya Balan, Manav Kaul and Neha Dhupia
In the film Tumhari Sulu, this Bollywood female character takes the idea of your neighborhood aunty and turns it on its head. She’s fun, she’s focused and she’s definitely ambitious. Basically, she’s everything that an Indian women wants to be, but often cannot. Tumhari Sulu is the kind of film in which you can predict what’s coming next but still marvel at the execution of the same. Vidya Balan excels in her performance as Sulu as she portrays the indefatigable can-do spirit of her Bollywood female character. While it may not seem like a big deal, Tumhari Sulu deals with real-life conflicts that many women in our society deal with and tries to push those boundaries. The film shows us that women too can have it all. All they need to do is dream hard and take their chances.
3.Inspirational Female Characters - Sridevi - Shashi (English Vinglish)
Release date: 5 October 2012
Director: Gauri Shinde
Cast: Sridevi, Adil Hussain and Priya Anand
In the post-colonial India, there exists a peculiar English-language elitism, where those who speak the language thumb their nose at those unable to speak it. Which is why Shashi (Sridevi), a true homemaker, is often humiliated by her family for her lack of what they believe to be the most basic skill. This Bollywood female character runs a small business of her own, however, the lack of her knowledge of English seems to cripple her at every turn. Even though she somehow manages to get by with her life in Pune, when a wedding takes her to New York City, she's hopelessly out of her depth.
This is when Shashi decides to take some action and gets herself enrolled for an English language course. Even though Sridevi returned to the big screen after a gap of almost 15 years with English Vinglish, she looked completely at home throughout the film. Despite her Bollywood female character was extremely simple, she makes the most out of it and has the audience rooting for her at every step of the way even if it is something as simple as being able to successfully place an order at a coffee shop.
4.Inspirational Female Characters - Rani Mukerji - Shivani Shivaji Roy (Mardaani)
Release Date: 22 August 2014
Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Cast: Rani Mukerji, Tahir Bhasin and Avneet Kaur
Rani Mukerji has played plenty of strong Bollywood female characters in her career. However, her portrayal of a policewoman seeking out people accused of child-trafficking definitely stands out from the bunch. She plays a lone wolf who single-handedly takes on a gang of human traffickers. Shivani is almost like the female version of Singham, a no-nonsense cop who will stop at nothing until justice is served. Her open threat to the villain where she challenges to catch him within 30 days makes for quite a fascinating dialogue between the two.
Making an appearance in almost every frame of the film, there is no doubt about the fact that Mardaani is Rani Mukerji’s show through and through. The actress exudes a certain bullish toughness in her portrayal of the character without going too overboard with it. Contrary to what its title suggests, gender is never brought up in Mardaani to make a point.
There are no dialogues or scenes that try to bring up the strengths or weaknesses of Rani’s character just because she belongs to a particular gender.
5.Inspirational Female Characters - Sonam Kapoor - Neerja Bhanot (Neerja)
Release Date: 19 February 2016
Director: Ram Madhvani
Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh and Shabana Azmi
What is it like to be trapped for 16 hours in a hijacked plane? What does terror taste like? Well, you get a glimpse of it all in this thrilling Ram Madhvani directorial. The film attempts to recreate the last day in the life of the 23-year-old Pan Am flight purser, who was killed in 1986. This New York bound flight was hijacked by terrorist and as per protocol, the pilots left the cockpit leaving the head purser Neerja Bhanot (Sonam Kapoor) in charge.
While such a situation can make anyone loose their cool, Neerja was able to keep herself collected. She hid all the American passports and managed to eventually open the emergency exits helping save a total of 359 lives. . She was shot dead as she huddled children to safety.
Her bravery was later rewarded by the Indian as well as Pakistani government. Sonam Kapoor absolutely nailed her portrayal of Neerja displaying the perfect amounts of vulnerability and courage. She earned a lot of praise for her performance from critics as well as the viewers.
More on: inspirational female, womens day special, alia bhatt, sridevi, vidya balan, sonam kapoor SHOW COMMENTS
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