Leading Ladies: Celebrating Bollywood’s Trailblazing Female-Led Films

In the quintessential yet vibrant tapestry of Indian Cinema, there are a series of films that showcase the strength, struggles, trials and tribulations of the Indian woman.

These films celebrate different personas of the Indian woman and how they traverse a world that has always offered a contrarian view to them.

Intrinsic and complex, these roles have defined complete generations of Indian women and have often left us teary eyed or have had us actively rooting for her, long after even the movie experience is over.

Here are some cinematic jewels that have left an indelible mark on not only the Indian cinema but also helped redefine our society.

Mother India (1957)
Mother India is a classic film coming from the early era of Indian Cinema. In this film, a poverty-stricken woman Radha (Nargis) raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, she always sticks to her own moral code. Staying true to her principles, she kills her immoral son for justice’s sake.
She is looked upon as the epitome of justice and a god like figure by the villagers.

Aandhi (1957)
Loosely based on the life of the first female Prime Minister of India, Indira, this is an all-time classic. Suchitra Sen’s portrayal of a politician stands unbeaten so far. It’s interesting to see how her personality changes with circumstances in the film.

The film was banned by the ruling government at that time, but later premiered on television. Yet it enjoyed immense popularity and is considered one of the best films Bollywood has ever made about a woman’s choices.

Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam: 1962
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Is An Award Winning Bollywood Classic Drama Movie. It Has Won Four Filmfare Awards. It Was Nominated For The Golden Bear At The Berlin International Film Festival,And Was Chosen As India’s Official Entry To The Oscars.

A Wealthy Man Goes To Brothels To Satisfy His Desires. This Mentally Disturbs His Wife. Gradually She Finds Solace In The Arms Of Bhootnath. A lowly servant, Bhootnath gets close to the wife of his employer and narrates her story through his eyes and perspective.

Bandhni: 1963
The film tells the story of a woman prisoner Kalyani, who is serving life imprisonment for murder, during the British Raj of the 1930s.
Kalyani is the true image of an all suffering, selfless, sacrificing and strong, yet weak Indian woman.
A prison-doctor falls in love with a convict who eventually reveals the story of her past and her connection to a freedom fighter.

Finally, she must make a choice between two very different men, Devendra (Dharmendra), the loving prison doctor, and Bikash (Ashok Kumar), a man from her past.

Seeta Aur Geeta (1972)
This regular Bollywood potboiler had Hema Malini in a double role. Seeta and Geeta are twin girls who were separated at birth. Geeta, a feisty girl is raised in a poor neighbourhood and is a street performer, while Seeta is raised by her cruel aunt Chachi and meek uncle.
Long-suffering heiress Seeta is treated worse than a servant by her abusive money-grubbing aunt. One day, the girls unintentionally swap places.

Ankur: The Seedling (1974)
Ankur is a complex film that analyses human behaviour in general and heavily stresses on characterisation (though the story is not fictional). The story revolves around two characters, Lakshmi and Surya.
Belonging to a lower caste, Lakshmi and her deaf-mute husband Kishtayya serve the landlord’s son, Surya. When Surya’s young wife finds out about his affair with Lakshmi, they all find themselves at crossroads.

Bhumika (1977)
Shyam Benegal’s haunting and masterful film, based on the memoirs of a famous Marathi actress, the film explores the often tragic dilemma of the female entertainer in 20th century India.

A girl learns music from her courtesan grandmother and breaks into the burgeoning show business industry of 1930s Bombay, which eventually leads to decades of superstardom as well as romantic entanglements.

Arth (1982)
Pooja, who grew up as an orphan girl and always dreamt of owning a house, becomes insecure when she finds out that she and her husband, Inder, have to leave the apartment they rent. The twist that occurred when Inder gives her the keys of a new house proves to be double-edged, when it is revealed that he is in love with another woman, Kavita, with whom he earned the money (in the film industry) for the new apartment. Arth is the story of this women’s search for her identity.

Mirch Masala (1986)
In colonial India, subedars (tax collectors) went from village to village with soldiers, often demanding more than taxes. A subedar commands Sonbai, a beautiful and confident woman whose husband is away in the city, to sleep with him. She slaps him and flees for safety to a spice factory where women grind chillies into fine powder. The aged factory guard, Abu Mian, locks the door behind her, refusing to open it to the soldiers, to the cowardly village men led by the mayor, and to the subedar himself. The town’s teacher, who follows Gandhi, and a few women, led by the mayor’s wife, protest ineffectually against this village-approved rape. The stage is set for a final confrontation.

Bandit Queen (1994)
The story of the bandit queen Phoolan Devi who was sent to prison in 1983 and got free in 1994. A must watch, this is a great epic tale of harsh truth of our society where an ordinary poor woman raised herself higher in order to take revenge from her oppressors, a true reality of our caste system where whole system is involved in covering up crimes of political supported goons. It’s undoubtedly great dacoit based tale ever portrayed in hard hitting manner on screen.

Chandini Bar (2001)
A displaced woman is forced to become a beer-bar dancer, and sire children of a gangster. The movie is very effective for it takes us into the life of a beer bar dancing girl (Mumtaz) in the city of Bombay, and shows us the rut that she is in and any attempts made by her to rise are in vain.

Ek Hasina Thi (2004)
Directed by Sriram Raghavan. The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Urmila Matondkar, Seema Biswas, and Aditya Srivastav. A woman falls for a charming and mysterious businessman. The whirlwind romance turns sour when she is framed for his underworld crimes. Now, finally out of prison she is ready for sweet revenge.

Queen (2014)
A 2014 Bollywood film starring Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao and Lisa Haydon about a woman who, after her fiancé breaks off their engagement two days before the wedding, decides to go abroad on her honeymoon anyway by herself. Directed by Vikas Bahl, who also co-wrote the film with Chaitally Parmar & Parveez Sheikh. Released to critical acclaim and commercial success.

Kahaani (2012)
A pregnant woman’s search for her missing husband takes her from London to Kolkata, but everyone she questions denies having ever met him.

English Vinglish (2012)
Directed by Gauri Shinde, this was touted as Sridevi’s comeback film. The plot revolves around a tradition-minded Indian housewife who enrols into an English speaking course in the US after she gets tired of feeling marginalised by her family. It’s a heartwarming narrative about self-respect, family dynamics, and personal growth.

Mary Kom (2014)
A biographical sports film directed by Omung Kumar, it stars Priyanka Chopra as the eponymous Mary Kom. The narrates her hardships before audaciously accomplishing her ultimate dream of becoming the most formidable female boxer in world.

Raazi (2018)
Directed by Meghna Gulzar, this spy thriller features Alia Bhatt as Sehmat, a young Indian girl married into a Pakistani military family to spy for India. Set in 1971, when the winds of war were blowing between India and Pakistan, Raazi – an adaptation of Harinder Sikka’s novel “Calling Sehmat” – is a true-life

Neerja (2016)
The story of courageous Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on Pan Am Flight 73 in 1986 when it was hijacked by a terrorist organisation.
The film starring Ram Madhvani and Sonam Kapoor, is a tribute to her bravery and sacrifice,

Mardaani (2014)
A female cop Shivani Shivaji Roy, working at a Mumbai Crime Branch, who sets out to confront the mastermind behind a child trafficking mafia. What follows is a cat and mouse game between this fearless cop and a young and ruthless mafia kingpin in a war which becomes extremely personal.

Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022)
Based on a chapter on Hussain Zaidi’s book “Mafia Queens of Mumbai”, the film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, tells the story of Gangubai, a young girl duped and sold to a brothel, and her fearless claim to power, using underworld connections to preside over the world she was once a pawn in.