I-Day Special: 8 Awe-inspiring Women Characters in Bollywood

We’ve often seen women portrayed as a specific kind in Bollywood movies-always the pretty damsel in distress. But among hordes of such characters, there have been some trying to break the mould, and bring out today’s independent woman on screen. Here are 8 Bollywood female characters which have defined being independent in every sense. 1. Konkona Sen in Wake Up Sid Yes, it was an out and out Rabir Kapoor flick. But again, it’s Konkona’s independent character Aisha which really caught our fancy. Aisha moves cities, from Kolkata to Mumbai, admits to being scared, and yet finds her foothold. 2. Preity Zinta in Salaam Namastey Her character Ambar is portrayed as super independent in the movie-having moved to Australia from India, living on her own, and even going through the whole pregnancy deal on her own. Phew! 3. Rekha in Khoon Bhari Maang Okay, agreed that she was the anti thesis of an independent woman in the first half of the movie. But boy, does she take a U turn in the second half! Taking revenge and totally revamping her image. 4. Kajol in My Name Is Khan We know that Shah Rukh Khan took most of the limelight for this movie, but it’s Kajol’s character Mandira who is shown as the fierce and independent one- working as a hairstylist and bringing up a kid on her own. 5. Smita Patil in Mirch Masala For a set up in colonial times, Smita Patil’s character Sonbai in this one was pretty bold and intelligent. She actually holds up the courage to slap the Subedaar who has set his evil eye on her. Yes, that’s strong and independent. 6. Madhuri Dixit in Lajja Not only Madhuri, but other characters of Manisha Koirala and Mahima Chaudhary have all been portrayed as pretty independent women, fighting for themselves in a man’s world. Madhuri’s character Janaki is a theatre artist and actually gives strength to other women also to fight for their rights. 7. Rani Mukerji in No One Killed Jessica Her journalist character Meera in this was fierce, straightforward, strong, and really independent. Handling a media job, relationship, and fighting for justice while at it, the character was really inspiring too. 8. Nargis in Mother India Last but not the least, how can we ever forget about Nargis’s cult role in Mother India, which actually set the stage for women oriented roles. Her character Radha, fighting against all odds to bring up her two sons is as independent as it can get!