Mainstream actress who doesn’t shy away from playing difficult roles

Yes Yes Yes .. This is a well curated topic to praise Rani .. But But .. off late I am seeing a lot of praise for other actresses even if they do common/paedestrian roles .. Rani is one actress who has never shied away from playing the most difficult roles onscreen for a mainstream actress and nailed them .. I was watching Tapsee Pannu’s interview with Faridoon where she said that we live in an era where even if you give a brilliant performance, it has to be fed into the audience’s mind by that actor’s PR ..According to her , people don’t use their analytical skills to differentiate between the really talented people and the ones who are PR spooned .. So, use your analytical skills please and name the actresses from mainstream cinema who are actually not afraid to take on difficult characters head on and display their versatility.. 

For me it’s Rani .. 

Miles 

After many miles 

It’s Piggy Wiggy 

After many miles 

It’s Aloo Shakaloo 

Least risk takers : Kajol , Preity .. to some extent Kareena too .. 

Rani for me as well. Big fan 

Priyanka is another brilliant actress that comes to mind. 

Originally posted by: MrChatVsNorway

For me it’s Rani .. 

Miles 

After many miles 

It’s Piggy Wiggy 

After many miles 

It’s Aloos Shakaloo 

Least risk takers : Kajol , Preity .. to some extent Kareena too .. 

Alia’s risks are not risks. Her projects are especially curated to hide her flaws and a tailor made and served to her on a platter. It’s a no from me, in order to take a risk you have to have something to lose. Shes already match fixed her entire career so what’s left to Risk? 

Edited by Shaitan-Haiwan - 4 months ago

Originally posted by: Shaitan-Haiwan

Alia’s risks are not risks. Her projects are especially curated to hide her flaws and a tailor made and served to her on a platter. It’s a no from me, in order to take a risk you have to have something to lose. Shes already match fixed her entire career so what’s left to Risk? 

  But she did play an unlikeable character (Rani) in a kjo film .. it’s not easy to play unlikeable characters on screen if you are not brave .. e.g Rani M in KANK as Maya 

They all play them and some fail. Like Deepika in Meghnas movie. Does she get full credit or half credit ? 

Err tabu wins this round 

No mainstream actress in the late 90s and early 2000s would have done maachis, Maqbool, chandini bar, astitva, hu tu tu  (and yes tabu was hardcore mainstream…she starred off in masala, comedy and family drama films with govinda, akshay, ajay devgan, anil kapoor   …even her Telugu films were huge blockbusters with top actors like venkatesh and nagarjuna)

When I read this topic thread, the first actress who came to mind was Rani. She embodies these types of roles and people forget that even her commercial roles in the 2000s were all groundbreaking.

Other actresses I would include are Sridevi and Urmila. Urmila especially in her 2000s roles where she played lots of negative characters, crazy characters, or horror characters.

I think Juhi also has branched out into this if you watch her in her latest projects ever since she stopped being a leading actress. Films like My Brother Nikhil, I Am, as well as her latest OTT series Hush Hush. 

You didn't credit Preity as playing difficult roles and that's true for some of her Bollywood roles (although most of them were groundbreaking like her pregnancy trilogy of films and even Sangharsh) but her non-Bollywood films are very different and her acting is very subtle and a break from her bubbly roles. Watch her in The Last Lear or Heaven on Earth and she's radically different. She won some awards for Heaven on Earth in Canada as well.

For me it’s Alia. 5 Filmfare awards and counting. 

What about Lara Dutta in Jurm 2005. She was the villain in a twist