- 2002 Kajol – Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham as Anjali Sharma
- Amisha Patel – Gadar: Ek Prem Katha as Sakina***
- Kareena Kapoor – Asoka as Kaurwaki
- Karisma Kapoor – Zubeidaa as Zubeida Begum
- Tabu – Chandni Bar as Mumtaz Ali Ansari
- 2003 Aishwarya Rai – Devdas as Parvati "Paro" Chakraborty
- Amisha Patel – Humraaz as Priya***
- Bipasha Basu – Raaz as Sanjana Dhanraj
- Karisma Kapoor – Shakti – The Power as Nandini
- Rani Mukerji – Saathiya as Suhani Sharma
- 2004 Preity Zinta – Kal Ho Naa Ho as Naina Catherine Kapur
- Bhoomika Chawla – Tere Naam as Nirjala Bharadwaj
- Hema Malini – Baghban as Pooja Malhotra
- Preity Zinta – Koi... Mil Gaya as Nisha***
- Rani Mukerji – Chalte Chalte as Priya Chopra
- Urmila Matondkar – Bhoot as Swati
- 2005 Rani Mukerji – Hum Tum as Rhea Prakash***
- Aishwarya Rai – Raincoat as Neerja "Neeru"
- Preity Zinta – Veer-Zaara as Zaara Hayaat Khan
- Shilpa Shetty – Phir Milenge as Tamanna Sahni
- Urmila Matondkar – Ek Hasina Thi as Sarika Vartak
(One of my favorite performances by Rani, but honestly, she did not deserve to win an award over the others in the list).
- 2006 Rani Mukerji – Black as Michelle McNally
- Preity Zinta – Salaam Namaste as Ambar "Ambi" Malhotra***
- Rani Mukerji – Bunty Aur Babli as Vimmi "Babli" Saluja
- Sharmila Tagore – Viruddh... Family Comes First as Sumitra V. Patwardhan
- Vidya Balan – Parineeta as Lalita
(Difficult to choose between Rani in BnB and Preity in SN, but Rani at least did show some emotions even with her rather superficial role while Preity overacted for most parts).
- 2007 Kajol – Fanaa as Zooni Ali Baig
- Aishwarya Rai – Dhoom 2 as Sunehri***
- Bipasha Basu – Corporate as Nishiganda Dasgupta
- Kareena Kapoor – Omkara as Dolly Mishra
- Rani Mukerji – Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna as Maya Talwar
- 2008 Kareena Kapoor – Jab We Met as Geet Dhillon
- Aishwarya Rai – Guru as Sujata Desai
- Deepika Padukone – Om Shanti Om as Shanti Priya/Sandy
- Madhuri Dixit – Aaja Nachle as Dia Srivastav***
- Rani Mukerji – Laaga Chunari Mein Daag as Vibhavari "Badki" S. Sahay
- Vidya Balan – Bhool Bhulaiyaa as Avni S. Chaturvedi
(Deepika had no business being nominated at the best actress category, because her performance in OSO was, frankly, mediocre, but that was nothing compared to Madhuri's performance in AN which was just abysmal).
- 2009 Priyanka Chopra – Fashion as Meghna Mathur
- Aishwarya Rai – Jodhaa Akbar as Jodhaa Bai
- Anushka Sharma – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as Taani
- Asin Thottumkal – Ghajini as Kalpana Shetty***
- Kajol – U, Me aur Hum as Piya
2010s
- 2010 Vidya Balan – Paa as Vidya
- Deepika Padukone – Love Aaj Kal as Meera Pandit
- Kareena Kapoor – 3 Idiots as Pia Sahastrabuddhe
- Kareena Kapoor – Kurbaan as Avantika Ahuja/Khan
- Katrina Kaif – New York as Maya***
- Priyanka Chopra – Kaminey as Sweety Shekhar Bhope
(Difficult to choose between Katrina and Deepika, but Deepika, I think, at least showed some emotions and expressions while Katrina was pretty bland in her role).
- 2011 Kajol – My Name Is Khan as Mandira Khan***
- Aishwarya Rai – Guzaarish as Sofia D'Souza
- Anushka Sharma – Band Baaja Baaraat as Shruti Kakkar
- Kareena Kapoor – Golmaal 3 as Daboo
- Vidya Balan – Ishqiya as Krishna Verma
(Sorry, but even Kareena's OTT and obnoxious performance in G3 was many notches above Kajol's screaming and hamming that she did in MNIK. I had never been more disappointed by a performance before; she took something with immense potential and turned it to crap).
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