The Bold New Bollywood Heroine

She talks boldly and shows off sultry moves - that's the new age Hindi film heroine for you.

From the coy woman of 'Chhod do anchal zamana kya kahega' to the 'Sheila Ki Jawani' babe - the Bollywood heroine has come of age.

Be it Nargis Fakhri's desire to watch an adult film in 'Rockstar', Vidya Balan's sensual looks in 'The Dirty Picture', Sonam Kapoor's gesture in 'Players', Katrina Kaif's drunken act in 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' or even Rani Mukerji's uninhibited mouthing of abuses in 'No One Killed Jessica' - the bold wave is very visible in Hindi movies.

"Basically, cinema reflects what happens in society. So the homemaker, subservient, silent sufferer and 'pativrata' woman of yesterday, was what was shown in Hindi movies earlier. But as times changed and society became more democratic and liberal, the woman's portrayal underwent a change on the big screen too," film critic Omar Qureshi says.

"Today, women live with the 'double income, no kids' mantra, they go to work, some don't mind living life alone...they socialise and party...so that is clearly reflecting in cinema as well," added Qureshi.

Some other films with actresses in bold roles include 'Delhi Belly', 'Ishqiya', 'Shaitan', 'Tanu Weds Manu', 'Jism', 'Saat Khoon Maaf', 'Dum Maro Dum' and 'Girlfriend'.

Ekta Kapoor, who is producing 'The Dirty Picture', in which Vidya plays a saucy actress, feels earlier films were more titillating.

"My film 'The Dirty Picture' is about a woman revelling in her sensuality. There is a very definite line between sensuality and raunchiness, and our story is about this woman who lived her life with aplomb. It is a brave and bold performance, no doubt, but one needs to see how actresses are getting more comfortable in their skin nowadays," Ekta said.

"Earlier, actresses used to play so-called 'sati savitris' and used to be covered in wet dupattas or saris. I think that used to look more suggestive and raunchy," she added.

When Rajkumar Gupta made Rani abuse in 'No One Killed Jessica', he had explained: "The abuses have been used to define attitude and not in a derogatory sense. These days abuses are a part and parcel of conversational language and we didn't feel that there was any harm in using them."

The trend is only becoming rampant for many reasons - viewer's open-mindedness, directors' daring attitude to show a realistic portrayal, actress' confidence and producers' risk-taking ability.

Writer-actor Manu Rishi, who has written the dialogues for films like 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye' and 'Aisha', says stories of the 'bad and naughty one' always turn out to be attention-grabbers.

"If both the heroines of 'Dev D' were asked to talk like Juhi Chawla spoke in 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' or like Bhagyashree did in 'Maine Pyar Kiya', imagine how they would sound!

"Just like a sharp-tongued girl causes a crowd on the streets, films with such female characters draw a huge crowd."

IANS