These Bollywood actresses are challenging norms and breaking boundaries by playing powerful female characters
Bollywood has been largely male-dominated, but in the recent decade, films led by women playing strong and inspiring characters have changed the history of Indian cinema.
Gone were the days when females were only portrayed as submissive, “belonging in the kitchen”, or damsels in distress, often required to be “saved”, while their male counterparts were masculine and fighting off villains.
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Although there's still ways to go to end the male-female disparity, through stereotype-defying characters, women are taking back the narrative and it has been game-changing. Here, we take a look at some films with women in empowering roles and the Bollywood actresses that play them.
Alia Bhatt in ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’
Gangubai Kathiawadi is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language biographical crime drama film which stars Alia Bhatt in the title role. This biopic centres on the true story of Gangubai Kothewali, who was a social activist, prostitute, and madam of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai during the 60s and one of the most dreaded women of Mumbai's underworld. She fought for the rights of sex workers and their children and improved their living conditions.
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The film shattered all box office records in India, and Bhatt’s performance in the role of Gangubai Kathiawadi earned her widespread critical acclaim. Not only did the film receive 15 nominations and won 10 awards at the 68th Filmfare Awards, one of the biggest awards in Indian cinema, but Bhatt herself also bagged the Best Actress accolade.
