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If the title got your attention it means you are reading this. One of the first instance when a female actor went wild on screen was when Meenakshi Shirodkar (actress Narmratha and Shilpa's grandma) wore a swim suit and sang something like "Lets play in water" to Master Vinayak (actress Nanda's father) in Marathi movie "Brahmachari" (1938). And then there was 4 minute on screen kiss between real life couple Himanshu Roy and Devika Rani in Karma (1933). Chances are what seemed like a wild thing then may be a very normal thing today. But it doesn't take away the shocking effect it may have on audience who watched the movie in theatre during those time.
Playing a character that is different from normally accepted mold has its own share of pros and cons. If accepted it can make a career as it happened to one person on this list. If not it can destroy a career as it happened to another person on this list. Let me take a moment to say thank you to all those on this list for trying something different and being generally brave.
A> Mala Sinha in Pyaasa (1957)
One of the reason why Mala Sinha reigned even with her shortcoming as an actress is her incredible guts to play characters that are in grey shade or in socially unacceptable mode. Her character Meena in Pyaasa is selfish and self centered and tad too much in love with her ex though when push comes to shove she is tough as nails. Contrast this to Waheeda in role of prostitute with heart of gold, Meena becomes epitome of hypocrisy that surrounds poet Vijay played by Guru Dutt. The fact that life in luxury is better than poverty was complete anti thesis of what was norm in those.
In 70's Manoj Kumar tried the same with Zeenat Aman playing the unsympathetic character called Sheetal who accepts marriage proposal from her rich boss played by Shashi Kapoor. Now here is the thing. While Sheetal may have been perceived selfish, the change in society meant that it was no longer enough to raise anyone's eyebrow. Heart broke and they repaired. So poor Sheetal had to die. Let us take a moment to digest the fact that some one who looks like Zeenat and who is about marry rich bloke who looks like Shashi kills herself because she is still in love with poor man who looks like Manoj Kumar.
B> Manisha Koirala in Dil Se (1998)
The story of the movie can be summed up in one line crazy chick who wants to blow few people to get her revenge uses love of a dimpled man who likes to dance on top of moving train with some one who looks lot like Mallika Arora and is engaged to be married to dimpled beauty from Kerala whose first sentence on meeting her groom is "Are you virgin?". Phew. So why is Manisha Koirala aka your's truely's namesake Megahna so hell bent on killing few thousand people. Because as a child she was raped by army and now wants to be suicide bomber in Delhi to liberate her state in some north eastern part of India. Hmmm. While being victim of rape is very serious issue, the whole suicide bombing is far fetched till you realize that it was kind of normal thing in 90's and we lost one of our prime minister to it.
Females doing dirty deeds for a reason was one of the hallmark of old day vamps. Ever thought about why they are with villains or why do the bad man's bidding. One of the question that always plagued me was why someone as lovely as Helen or Bindu wanted to wear skimpy clothes and dance when their heart seems to mellow at sight of lead hero. Or why they always wanted to kill any actress. While Dil Se may not have provided any answer to my questions, it had main character who was terrorist. How wild can one be than be someone who is about to blow herself and few more people?
C> Zeenat Aman in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971)
Bollywood needs to thank Dev Anand for bringing forth one of the most stylish women on Silver screen. Now one can argue that Zeenat's character is not the main female lead. Mumtaaz is the love interest. Pfft. This movie is all about brother and sister relation or more appropriately a brother searching for his sister to bring her back home. And guess who plays the sister. Now Hare Rama Hare Krishna may not be Zeenat's debut but it was certainly her first solid role. Her vulnerable Janice trapped in world of drugs and alcohol was shock to people who had just watched little Jess play with her brother. As Dev Anand's character finds her with her hippie friend where she and they sing little song about Dum and free love, Bollywood finally acknowledges that 70's is different. I am about to make a sweeping statement now. Zeenat's short groovy 70's inspired clothes, her perfect figure and those red glasses are epitome of one of most stylish moment in Bollywood history.
Zeenat played no. of roles that did not fit virginal demure Bollywood prototype. She played unsympathetic girl friend, prostitute and gangster's moll with flair. Parveen Babi who was nearest contemporary tried the same but with more demureness and more deference. The only time Babi tried to be badass on screen, her character ended up with bullet in her body.
D> Kajol in Gupt (1997)
Gupt brought a central character who was bat shit crazy and who wanted to kill few people who stood between her and her love played to himbo perfection by Bobby Deol. In reverse to her previous presence in the list, Manisha's character is the one walking with big red circle on her back that says "Kill me". Kajol was not exactly demure or even politically correct actress and she did her best to bring variation to her character in her career as leading star. But nothing shocked the audience as watching her try kill poor Manisha's character on screen.
Kaun (1999) had under rated Urmila playing serial killer who is missing few marbles in her head to the dismay of Manoj Bajpai and Sushant Signh's character. This experimental psychological thriller is a must watch to any one who loves the genre.
E> Rehana Sultan in Chetna (1970)
Anyone who has fortune of watching a little gem called Dastak (1970) should know that Rehana Sultan was exceptionally talented actress. But it was her bold scenes in next movie Chetna (1970) that proved her undoing. Bold scenes and bare legs in V shape on movie logo relegated the actress to B grade and C grade section. The movie proved to be too shocking for audience and their fragile sensibilities.
Since then there have been few others who have managed to play girls of night and yet retained thier stardom to some extent. Preity Zinta played one in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) and Tabu even managed to win award for playing bar dancer in Chandni Bar (2001). And yet the curse seem to have struck Neha Dhupia whose Julie (2004) was bold as bold as can be and who has soon been relegated to doing B grade movies.
F> Kangana Ranaut in Revolver Rani (2014)
Alka Singh played by Kangana is obessed by a handsome upcoming Bollywood star Rohan Mehra played by Vir Das. If this is not enough, Revolver rani in reminiscent of 80's action hero comes with blazing gun to save her precious lover from her opponent's lair. Did I say she curses like a man? If this reminds you of Fearless Nadia who loved beating up villains or Neha Duphia's foul mouthed bad ass gangster Munni in Phas Gaye Re Obama(2010), you could be right.
A special mention though for Rani Mukherjee whose penchant for playing off beat roles is commendable. And special shout out for playing a character obsessed by scent of her dream man in Aiyyaa (2012) which proved even the most humdrum existence can belie colorful inner life. If Rani's Meenakshi looked demure and sweet on outside, her inner self was a wild riot. And Rani's next Mardaani (2014) proved action is not man's domain anymore
G> Nanda in Ittefaq (1969)
Sly, deceptive Nanda's Rekha pulled rug over her audience's eyes and almost made half crazed convict on run Rajesh Khanna's Dilip doubt on existence of a dead body. The story goes that Yash Chopra was in two mind about casting Nanda in the role. Sweet demur Nanda was industry's sweet heart for her willingness to work with newcomer including Shashi Kapoor when other top line actresses refused. Beside she had a genuine nice girl image in movies. So Nanda in an attempt to change the director's mind wore a chiffon blue saree wrapping it tightly across her body. That combined with her toothy smile and sweet face formed a irresistible combination. So if anyone is in love with Sridevi's blue chiffon sari in Mr India (1987), they have to thank Nanda for it.
When Aishwarya Rai Bachahan's character killed Akshay Kumar on screen in Khakee (2004), audience howled with betrayal. Abbas Mastaan's Race series is filled double crossing and triple crossing femme fatale.
H> Vidya Balan in Dirty Picture (2011)
In movie world there was no women as wild in real life as Silk Smita. And Vidya Balan made sure that Silk's biographical movie would remain as wild as possible. The movie is filled with raunchy number, showcases multiple affairs and sleazy looks and yet at the end of it all, Vidya's movie manages to tell a life story of woman who tried to live as best as she could in the world filled with double standards and hypocrites.
This ends the list of girls gone wild. Do you known any more which you would like to add?
Playing a character that is different from normally accepted mold has its own share of pros and cons. If accepted it can make a career as it happened to one person on this list. If not it can destroy a career as it happened to another person on this list. Let me take a moment to say thank you to all those on this list for trying something different and being generally brave.
A> Mala Sinha in Pyaasa (1957)
One of the reason why Mala Sinha reigned even with her shortcoming as an actress is her incredible guts to play characters that are in grey shade or in socially unacceptable mode. Her character Meena in Pyaasa is selfish and self centered and tad too much in love with her ex though when push comes to shove she is tough as nails. Contrast this to Waheeda in role of prostitute with heart of gold, Meena becomes epitome of hypocrisy that surrounds poet Vijay played by Guru Dutt. The fact that life in luxury is better than poverty was complete anti thesis of what was norm in those.
In 70's Manoj Kumar tried the same with Zeenat Aman playing the unsympathetic character called Sheetal who accepts marriage proposal from her rich boss played by Shashi Kapoor. Now here is the thing. While Sheetal may have been perceived selfish, the change in society meant that it was no longer enough to raise anyone's eyebrow. Heart broke and they repaired. So poor Sheetal had to die. Let us take a moment to digest the fact that some one who looks like Zeenat and who is about marry rich bloke who looks like Shashi kills herself because she is still in love with poor man who looks like Manoj Kumar.
B> Manisha Koirala in Dil Se (1998)
The story of the movie can be summed up in one line crazy chick who wants to blow few people to get her revenge uses love of a dimpled man who likes to dance on top of moving train with some one who looks lot like Mallika Arora and is engaged to be married to dimpled beauty from Kerala whose first sentence on meeting her groom is "Are you virgin?". Phew. So why is Manisha Koirala aka your's truely's namesake Megahna so hell bent on killing few thousand people. Because as a child she was raped by army and now wants to be suicide bomber in Delhi to liberate her state in some north eastern part of India. Hmmm. While being victim of rape is very serious issue, the whole suicide bombing is far fetched till you realize that it was kind of normal thing in 90's and we lost one of our prime minister to it.
Females doing dirty deeds for a reason was one of the hallmark of old day vamps. Ever thought about why they are with villains or why do the bad man's bidding. One of the question that always plagued me was why someone as lovely as Helen or Bindu wanted to wear skimpy clothes and dance when their heart seems to mellow at sight of lead hero. Or why they always wanted to kill any actress. While Dil Se may not have provided any answer to my questions, it had main character who was terrorist. How wild can one be than be someone who is about to blow herself and few more people?
C> Zeenat Aman in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971)
Bollywood needs to thank Dev Anand for bringing forth one of the most stylish women on Silver screen. Now one can argue that Zeenat's character is not the main female lead. Mumtaaz is the love interest. Pfft. This movie is all about brother and sister relation or more appropriately a brother searching for his sister to bring her back home. And guess who plays the sister. Now Hare Rama Hare Krishna may not be Zeenat's debut but it was certainly her first solid role. Her vulnerable Janice trapped in world of drugs and alcohol was shock to people who had just watched little Jess play with her brother. As Dev Anand's character finds her with her hippie friend where she and they sing little song about Dum and free love, Bollywood finally acknowledges that 70's is different. I am about to make a sweeping statement now. Zeenat's short groovy 70's inspired clothes, her perfect figure and those red glasses are epitome of one of most stylish moment in Bollywood history.
Zeenat played no. of roles that did not fit virginal demure Bollywood prototype. She played unsympathetic girl friend, prostitute and gangster's moll with flair. Parveen Babi who was nearest contemporary tried the same but with more demureness and more deference. The only time Babi tried to be badass on screen, her character ended up with bullet in her body.
D> Kajol in Gupt (1997)
Gupt brought a central character who was bat shit crazy and who wanted to kill few people who stood between her and her love played to himbo perfection by Bobby Deol. In reverse to her previous presence in the list, Manisha's character is the one walking with big red circle on her back that says "Kill me". Kajol was not exactly demure or even politically correct actress and she did her best to bring variation to her character in her career as leading star. But nothing shocked the audience as watching her try kill poor Manisha's character on screen.
Kaun (1999) had under rated Urmila playing serial killer who is missing few marbles in her head to the dismay of Manoj Bajpai and Sushant Signh's character. This experimental psychological thriller is a must watch to any one who loves the genre.
E> Rehana Sultan in Chetna (1970)
Anyone who has fortune of watching a little gem called Dastak (1970) should know that Rehana Sultan was exceptionally talented actress. But it was her bold scenes in next movie Chetna (1970) that proved her undoing. Bold scenes and bare legs in V shape on movie logo relegated the actress to B grade and C grade section. The movie proved to be too shocking for audience and their fragile sensibilities.
Since then there have been few others who have managed to play girls of night and yet retained thier stardom to some extent. Preity Zinta played one in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001) and Tabu even managed to win award for playing bar dancer in Chandni Bar (2001). And yet the curse seem to have struck Neha Dhupia whose Julie (2004) was bold as bold as can be and who has soon been relegated to doing B grade movies.
F> Kangana Ranaut in Revolver Rani (2014)
Alka Singh played by Kangana is obessed by a handsome upcoming Bollywood star Rohan Mehra played by Vir Das. If this is not enough, Revolver rani in reminiscent of 80's action hero comes with blazing gun to save her precious lover from her opponent's lair. Did I say she curses like a man? If this reminds you of Fearless Nadia who loved beating up villains or Neha Duphia's foul mouthed bad ass gangster Munni in Phas Gaye Re Obama(2010), you could be right.
A special mention though for Rani Mukherjee whose penchant for playing off beat roles is commendable. And special shout out for playing a character obsessed by scent of her dream man in Aiyyaa (2012) which proved even the most humdrum existence can belie colorful inner life. If Rani's Meenakshi looked demure and sweet on outside, her inner self was a wild riot. And Rani's next Mardaani (2014) proved action is not man's domain anymore
G> Nanda in Ittefaq (1969)
Sly, deceptive Nanda's Rekha pulled rug over her audience's eyes and almost made half crazed convict on run Rajesh Khanna's Dilip doubt on existence of a dead body. The story goes that Yash Chopra was in two mind about casting Nanda in the role. Sweet demur Nanda was industry's sweet heart for her willingness to work with newcomer including Shashi Kapoor when other top line actresses refused. Beside she had a genuine nice girl image in movies. So Nanda in an attempt to change the director's mind wore a chiffon blue saree wrapping it tightly across her body. That combined with her toothy smile and sweet face formed a irresistible combination. So if anyone is in love with Sridevi's blue chiffon sari in Mr India (1987), they have to thank Nanda for it.
When Aishwarya Rai Bachahan's character killed Akshay Kumar on screen in Khakee (2004), audience howled with betrayal. Abbas Mastaan's Race series is filled double crossing and triple crossing femme fatale.
H> Vidya Balan in Dirty Picture (2011)
In movie world there was no women as wild in real life as Silk Smita. And Vidya Balan made sure that Silk's biographical movie would remain as wild as possible. The movie is filled with raunchy number, showcases multiple affairs and sleazy looks and yet at the end of it all, Vidya's movie manages to tell a life story of woman who tried to live as best as she could in the world filled with double standards and hypocrites.
This ends the list of girls gone wild. Do you known any more which you would like to add?
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