Katrina, Vidya & Anushka for the battle of female detective

They will be seen as sexy sleuths in their upcoming films.

It's not just the male brigade " right from Ranbir Kapoor (Jagga Jasoos) to Sushant Singh Rajput (Detective Byomkesh Bakshi) " who is gearing up to play detectives. The female stars have never felt so snoopy either.

While Vidya Balan will star as Bobby Jasoos in a film to be directed by newcomer Samar Sheikh, Anushka Sharma plays a detective in Navdeep Singh's NH10. Now comes news that Katrina Kaif too will play a detective in Jagga Jasoos. What kind of a sleuth she portrays, is not yet known.

Vidya plays our own Miss Marple. Vidya says that she found "the idea of a lady detective irresistible". The shoot starts early next year with Bobby Jasoos scheduled for an end-2014 release.

Anushka has an author-backed role in Singh's film. She loved the script so much that she decided to produce it. She gets to kick serious ass in the Kill Bill space. She will be investigating a crime and tackling the baddies with her bare hands along the way. Vidya's role in Bobby Jasoos is that of a goofy, middle-class woman.

It looks like Anushka's detective act in NH10 is likely to hit the road before the other two.

Main bhi jasoos!
Ranbir Kapoor
Jagga Jasoos
Ranbir Kapoor and Anurag Basu will join forces once again after Barfi! to make Jagga Jasoos. The movie will have Ranbir playing a private eye. The movie that also stars Katrina Kaif, will see Ranbir making his debut as a producer. Apparently, the actor-director duo hope to build a franchise with this film. There's talk of a TV show Jagga Junior, comic books, and cartoons that will introduce the detective.

Shah Rukh Khan
The Bengali Detective
Mira Nair is all set to direct The Bengali Detective, which will be based in Kolkata. The film is based on a documentary written by Phil Cox that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. We hear Shah Rukh Khan has been approached for the role. Let's see if SRK who played a detective in Baadshah, agrees to play a private eye again.

Sushant Singh Rajput
Detective Byomkesh Bakshi
Sushant Singh Rajput will play Byomkesh in Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshi. The life and times of Saradindu Bandopadhyay's sleuth " played by Uttam Kumar to Rajit Kapur, Abir Chatterjee to Sujoy Ghosh on screen " will be introduced to a pan-India audience. The Yash Raj film will be set in Kolkata, and is expected to go on the floors soon.

Arshad Warsi
Mr Joe B Carvalho
Arshad Warsi does a Steve Martin in this detective saga which will see him playing a bumbling sleuth like Martin's Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther series. This comic caper has been shot in Goa and is scheduled for an early 2014 release.

Rajeev Khandelwal
Samrat and Co
Taking a break from their usual family sagas, The Barjatyas will produce this movie that will see Rajeev Khandelwal as detective Samrat. The movie is already on the floors and is expected to hit the screens mid-2014.