10 Actresses Who Transformed Indian Cinema

There was a time when Bollywood Actresses were considered a second fiddle to the protagonist and were typecasted for being the “Heroine” of the film. But this would not last, as there were times when the actresses stole the thunder from the actors, which introduced the possibility of them portraying a character-driven role instead of being only a second fiddle. Bollywood Actresses have always proved naysayers wrong with their terrific performances.

But this journey has not been a bed of roses as there have been a lot of hardships that they have had to endure and overcome, starting from pay disparities to mistreatment on sets to not having material for a particular role, but these wonder women from Bollywood have always refused to give up, and have risen from the ashes like a phoenix.

Today, we will look at some of these wonderful Bollywood Actresses who changed the face of Indian Cinema.

Nutan

Nutan - 10 Actresses Who Transformed Indian Cinema

Nutan Samarth came into the world on June 4, 1936, to poet Kumarsen Samarth with his actress wife ‘Shobhana’ as the oldest of their four children. Her parents parted when she was just a little child. Nutan, 13, made her acting debut in K. Asif’s “Hamari Beti”. She was also a beauty queen, crowned Miss Mussorie in 1952.

Success at such an early age proved difficult, and Nutan briefly gave up shooting in the 1950s to relocate to Switzerland. She came back wedded Commander Rajnish Bahl, and entered the most innovative and prosperous period of her career. She established herself as a strong actress who could play comedy, drama, and romance equally well.

Shabana Azmi

Shabana Azmi (together with the late Smita Patil) comprised several of the prominent Bollywood Actresses who ruled the films of India’s “Parallel Cinema” during the 1970s and 1980s.

Shabana Azmi, the daughter of noted Urdu innovative writer and lyricist Kaifi Azmi and theatre actress Shaukat Azmi, has appeared in films directed by nearly all of India’s most famous art-house directors, including Shyam Benegal, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen, and others, as well as a commercial and arthouse Indie Hindi films, where she has played several strong female characters (for example, in The Death Sentence: Mrityu Dand (1997) and Godmother (1999)).

Vidya Balan

She is known for pioneering a shift in the image of women in Hindi cinema with her performances in female-led films, and she has received numerous prizes, including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare prizes. In 2014, the Indian government awarded her the Padma Shri.

Despite having been turned down by a Tamil producer, she fought until she received her first breakthrough with a Malayalam film, Chakram with Mohanlal; however, the production was put on hold, which meant she was forced to wait until 1998 to make her debut in a Surf Excel advertisement.

She went on to participate in several ads directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She completed over 90 such advertisements. Despite these hardships, she won the battle and starred in amazing films such as Kahaani, Bhool Bhulaiyya, Ishqiya and Parineeta.

Konkona Sen Sharma

Konkona Sen Sharma is an award-winning Bollywood actress, and the daughter of renowned actress and director Aparna Sen. Konkona is considered one of Bollywood’s most acclaimed actresses, with outstanding performances ranging from Mr and Mrs. Iyer (2002) to Page 3 (2005), Omkara (2006), and Life in a Metro (2007).

Her exceptionally excellent performance as a struggling actress in the indisputable hit Luck by Chance (2009), with Farhan Akhtar, cemented her financial success. Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India praised her performance in the film, writing,

“The high point of the film is its performances; Konkona is a complete natural before the camera”.

Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt was born on March 15, 1993, to Bollywood actress Soni Razdan and director-producer Mahesh Bhatt. She has received numerous awards, including one National Award, six Filmfare Awards, and three IIFA Awards.

Bhatt is among the highest-paid Bollywood actresses in India. She has appeared on Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 list in 2017. She is considered the best actress in contemporary Bollywood by many.

Her illustrious career includes films like Highway, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Raazi, Dear Zindagi, and Gully Boy.

Manisha Koirala

Manisha Koirala was born on August 16, 1970. She is a Nepalese actress most known for her work in Bollywood, but she has also appeared in films from South India and her own country. Koirala, noted for her acting skills, has received numerous awards, including four Filmfare Awards, and is one of India’s most famous actors.

Critics have noticed that her speciality as an actress remains unaffected by her commercial success. A brief stint in advertising led to a career in film, where she debuted in Bollywood with the highest-grossing film Saudagar (1991). Despite her initial struggles to make a name for herself, she rose to prominence in the 1990s with films such as 1942: A Love Story (1994), Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995), Agni Sakshi (1996), and Gupt (1997).

Koirala was particularly recognized for her openness to play around with many powerful, passionate roles, while she gave several celebrated performances in a variety of films that performed well with critics, including Bombay (1995), Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Dil Se.. (1998), Mann (1999), Lajja (2001), Company (2002), and Escape from Taliban (2003).

Dimple Kapadia

Dimple was born in a Gujrati-speaking household on June 8, 1957, as the daughter of businessmen Chunnibhai and Betty. She has a younger sibling, a sibling, Simple, that was born on August 15, 1958. Raj Kapoor discovered and cast her alongside his son Rishi in the 1973 blockbuster Bang Bobby. Rishi and her stars sprang to fame overnight; she was only 16 years old at the film’s release.

Dimple, an enormous supporter of super-star Rajesh Khanna, encountered and married him exactly 6 months before the debut of Bobby. Rajesh was fifteen years older than her. She stopped working in film after her marriage.

But, as of now, she has started acting again, experimenting even now with all of her roles brief from one another.

Sharmila Tagore

Sharmila Tagore is a Bengali actress who has found recognition in Hindi films produced by Bollywood. Sharmila Tagore’s past relative was the famous Rabindranath Tagore. Sharmila married the well-known Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan, and their marriage has remained intact. Sharmila has a son and two daughters.

Her son is Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, and she has two daughters, Saba and Soha. Daughter Soha has also recently made her Bollywood debut. Sharmila is the grandmother of two children, Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan, Taimur and Jeh. Her daughter-in-law is Amrita Singh, a well-known Bollywood actress, and Kareena Kapoor.

Waheeda Rehman

She starred alongside Kamaljit Singh in Shagun and later engaged him on April 27, 1974, and relocated to his property in Bangalore. She then gave birth to a son, Sohail, and a daughter, Kashvi. She rejected offers after 1991 because she was unhappy with the parts she was offered.

When Kamaljit fell unwell, she and her family relocated to ‘Sahil’, near Bandra Bandstand in Bombay. Kamaljit died on November 21, 2000. Sohail holds an M.B.A. and works in a private limited company, whereas Kashvi is a jewellery designer. Following her husband’s death in 2002, she appeared in seven films.

Tabu

Tabu is a Bollywood actress who has acted primarily in Hindi films. Still, she has also appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali films, and one American film. She has received two National Film Awards for Best Actress and four Filmfare Critics Awards for Best Female Performer.

With a few notable exceptions, she is mainly known for her roles in artsy, low-budget films that receive more critical acclaim than significant box-office returns.

Her appearances in profitable films were rare and minor, including Border (1997), Saajan Chale Sasural (1996), Biwi No. 1 (1999), and Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999). Her best-known performances are Maachis (1996), Virasat (1997), Hu Tu Tu (1999), Astitva (2000), Chandni Bar (2001), Maqbool (2003), and Cheeni Kum (2007). Her key part in Mira Nair’s American film The Namesake (2006) has also received high recognition.