There has been a never-ending discussion about the pay difference between male and female stars, and the ability of a lead actor being able to pull the audience into the theatres. People usually talk about the stardom, collections and sometimes the acting abilities too.
In the name of feminism and women-power, a lot of projects are made which feel forced, where the women are mostly complaining about men, and are shown having sex and alcohol in the name of equality and if you raise a finger, it is believed that you are judging. No complaints there, every story is unique in it’s own way.
We, at OCD Times feel, that the best of the female centric films are those where there is a story and the protagonists just happen to be female. Because now, we see them as strong characters, and their journey through the course of the film. They were not put there as an agenda, they are not forced upon the audience. In some of the cases, these characters could have easily been men and the movie would still be fine. In others, being a female is not victimised, and shown more as a story of a human, their struggles and emotions, than that of a man or woman. And we love them not because they are females but because they are just so awesome!
On this Women’s Day, listing down some of those films, stories, strong female characters and performances by the leading ladies.
1. Article 370
The recently released successful venture of Yami Gautam and her husband Aditya Dhar portrays the real life events surrounding the abolishment of Article 370 where Yami plays the NIA agent Zooni Haskar, a brave officer who takes the job of repairing Kashmir in her hands ordered by her superiors and her commendable job in actually doing so.
Also Read: Janhvi Kapoor – The New Pan-India Sensation
2. English Vinglish
English-Vinglish released in 2012 and stars the late veteran Sridevi in her comeback, portraying a desi independent lady at a pardesi land with no one but her family supporting her and her small business. Taking another step into her independent life, she joins an English coaching center where she meets and makes friends from different parts of the world, living their lives just like her at a common step, learning English and making their path in an unknown nation.
3. Thappad [Women’s Day]
Taapsee Pannu as Amrita in Thappad portrays a lovingly joyful married girl with her husband played by Pavail Gulati. For the early part of the film, she looks to be living a dreamy life until one night when that dreamy life is shatterd by her husband by just a Thappad. That’s what leads to her doubting every moment she had lived till then with her husband, followed by her taking independent actions and her family barely supporting her which brings out new character traits of her husband which she is glad she isn’t there to face, and ends up taking a divorce.
4. Kahaani
Vidya Balan, the one who acts as the pioneer of female led performances, plays Vidya Bagchi, a pregnant lady from London who arrives at Kolkata to find her husband whom she lost during Durga Puja festival. She is accompanied by some police officers who don’t know the real cause of Vidya’s arrival and her mission. On her mission, she is also tracked by an undercover assassin, Bob Biswas.
5. Queen
So here’s the film which gave a superstar level recognition to Kangana Ranaut. In Queen, she plays Rani Mehra, a Punjabi woman from Delhi who suffers through depression after Vijay Dhingra, the man she is supposed to marry 2 days later, refuses to do so. Her family sends her to a vaction to cheer her up where she meets lots of people in different phases of their life, enjoys her time with them, develops her own personality, and learns that life is much bigger than marrying a Dhingra.
6. Dear Zindagi
Dear Zindagi starred Alia Bhatt as Kaira, a young girl aspiring to be a director. In her life of struggles, she is tired of people abandoning their relations with her due to some or the other reason for which she gets some life lessons by Shah Rukh Khan aka Dr. Jahangir.
7. The Dirty Picture
The Dirty Picture, again, stars the goddess Vidya Balan as the real life inspired Silk Smitha, an adult or erotic heroine of the older times of the southern part of Indian entertainment industry. It portrays her journey of no name to complete fame, and in the end, finishing her story herself with all her fame.
8. Fashion
Fashion shows the glamorous but at the same time a horrendous life of 3 ladies, each her own way who had to climb from the bottom to the pinnacle and face the consequences of even trying to climb it. The fashion industry is a female dominated industry and casting Priyanka Chopra and Kangana Ranaut, the fashion icons of those times was truly casting at its peak.
Not just these 8, but there are a lot of movies and series which have strong female characters which make us love and respect the actors and makers alike. Tell us which female-centric films or just stories with strong female characters you liked, apart from this list.
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