Gender biasness and misogyny is rife everywhere. Challenging conventional ideas, Bollywood films have depicted women out of their traditional stereotypes, which eventually gathered appreciation for the actor. Female-centric films in Bollywood have gained some focus on certain characters as well, such as:
English Vinglish (2012)
Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish stars Bollywood icon Sridevi, who plays a housewife named Shashi Godbole. The film depicts her journey of self-discovery from a coy housewife to confident speaker in English. She secretly takes language classes in New York City after being mocked for her inability to speak English.
Queen (2014)
Queen stars Kangana Ranaut as a young woman named Rani. Her husband calls off their wedding in the film, complaining that Rani’s conservatism is unattractive to him. The film depicts a simple coming-of-age story of a naive and introvert girl.
Heartbroken, but compelled to get over it, Rani goes on her solo journey to Paris and Amsterdam. Along the way, she meets many interesting people who teach her a lot about herself. When she returns to India, she brims in sincerity and self-love.
Astitva (2000)
Written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, the film stars Tabu in a struggle for her identity as a woman. Feminist in its tone and tenor, the film argued that a woman is not just a dutiful wife and a dedicated mother. Her world should not be, and is not, centered around a man.
Kahaani (2012)
Kahaani depicts the Vidya Bagchi’s (played by Vidya Balan) persistence to track down her missing husband. Even through in her final trimester of pregnancy, she travels to Kolkata with the determination to find her husband. Everyone she encounters tells her that her husband probably left her because he didn’t want to raise the baby with her.
She slowly figures out that her husband’s death was part of a bigger incident involving the federal government and a rogue agent-turned-terrorist. Vidya continues to look for answers despite being threatened.
Fashion (2008)
In Fashion, Priyanka Chopra stars as Meghna Mathur, an ambitious model. She goes to Mumbai against her parents’ consent to chase her dream. Struggling through several rejections, she finally catches her break after making some good friends and exhibiting confidence during a meeting with an executive at a major modeling agency.
However, her health and relationships slowly begin to deteriorate after her involvement with drugs and alcohol. In order to get her career back on track, she has to overcome her addictions and phases of depression.