Bolly Babes Turn Kill Billis

Heroine-centric movies, such as Queen, Highway, Gulab Gang, hit audiences smack between the eyes and they loved it. Funny thing, no one missed the hero. So, it proved categorically that if you cast and scripted right and crafted it intelligently, everything else being equal, content would see it through. Turned on, after tasting blood, Bolly babes are all set, literally, to take a quantum leap into action-roles and crash, burn, punch, shoot and slam their way to our hearts in some of their forthcoming starrers. So get set to watch flexing muscles, sword swinging and leaping from one building to another by heroines who earlier played dainty damsels in distress waiting to be rescued by their fearless macho heroes.

Take a look at the list. Rani Mukherjee is all set to do daring stunts in Pradeep Sarkar’s Mardaani. The stunning Aishwarya Rai Bachchan takes the same route in her comeback (post mom-hood) vehicle, Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa. The delectable Anushka Sharma could well have been inspired by beau Virat Kohli to leap into NH 10. A thriller, the makers of this film are reported to have flown in a team of Hollywood action specialists to turn on the heat. Wow!

Sona Sinha too joins the party with an out-and-out action project, helmed by the director of the unforgettable action thriller Ghajini, A.R.Murugadoss. Bips Basu, the dusky, sizzling bombshell who appears to have moved from her gasp-pant Jism phase to horror zone is all set to don the role of an action-girl in director Ronald Joffes The Lovers. Priyanka Chopra wraps up this list with a knockout punch, all set to play boxer Mary Kom in her next venture.

Critics insist that there have been heroine-action before too: Deepika Padukone in Chandni Chowk to China, Piggy Chops (Priyanka Chopra) in Love Story 2050, Aishwarya Rai in Jodha Akbar, Koena Mitra in Karna, as well as, earlier Seema Biswas in Phoolan Devi, Sushmita Sen in Samay, Esha Gupta and Rai in the Dhoom franchise. Also Chopra in Krrish and Soha Ali Khan in Khoya Khoya Chand, not forgetting Esha, Dia Mirza and Shamita Shetty’s stunts in Cash.

The grandmom of all these babes however was undisputably a phirang lady called Mary Evans, baptized in the Bollywood of the 1930s and 1940s as the unforgettable, iconic, flamboyant Fearless Nadia. Fencing villains, galloping on a horse with an active whip in hand, leaping atop running trains, swinging from chandeliers, the amazing stunt-queen swung across a slew of films with rare style. Hunterwali, Pahadi Kanya, Miss Frontier Mail, Lutaru Lalna, Diamond Queen, Punjab Mail, Jungle Princess, Hunterwali ki Beti, all played to packed houses!

Cut to the Present.

It has been reported that some of the established male chauvinists in the industry are not too kicked about “glam, hot, gorgeous Bollywood heroines kicking ass and preferred them to operate from their comfort zones leveraging their core competence of romance, drama, tears, emotion, etc. They preferred that they showcase their inner strength by virtue of their acting and expression instead of competing with their male counterpart.”

These dumbos would be well advised to have a look at Hollywood’s list of action-heroines, who bombarded the screen with their sizzling, smashing hi-jinks. Angelina Jolie may have been born to play femme fatale (off and on screen), but her cop and criminal role in The Bone Collector and Gone in 60 Seconds zonked fans. Her role as Lara Croft in the two Tomb Raider films later, along with Mr. & Mrs. Smith revealed that she could be a serious, sultry killer too,

What do you say about a woman who slammed her way through over 20 action movies, keeping pace with the legendary James Bond and matching steps with Jackie Chan? Well, Michelle Yeoh of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon needs no intro or proof, right? How can one forget the Kill Bill babe, Uma Thurman, whose chill, vigor, and bloody style earned her cult status as a numero uno among women warriors? Hilary Swank may not qualify as a true-blue action-star, but the way she battled the Cobra Kai-esque Alpha Elite in The Next Karate Kid and later punched away in Million Dollar Babe, set her apart. When it comes to karate chops, switchblades and catfights, zoom into bosomy, bloodthirsty Varla in Faster Pussycats played by Tura Satana — a ruthless demo of female action. Smoking hot star Kate Beckinsale in Underworld and Underworld Evolution — in flattering leather outfit engaging in some well-choreographed gun-play — and later Van Helsing, where she fights an assortment of Transylvanian ghoulies, makes her a cool terror. Then there’s Demi Moore who, long before Charlie’s Angels did the 1991 G1 Jane by becoming bald! Feminine brawn, admitted fans & critics, never looked more sexy! There’s also the exotic Lucy Liu, who was one of the baddies in Charlie’s Angels, alongside Diaz and Barrymore and later struck both in Kill Bill and Lady Snowblood.

So whether it was Kat Kaif doing her nifty action number in Ek Tha Tiger or Kangana Ranaut playing the devious, vicious kick-boxing vamp in Krrish 3, this trend reflects a refreshing, new initiative into getting girl-power to explode. Clearly, there’s life after romancing, singing and emoting.

More power to the action-heroine. Move over, Salman, Akki, Ajay — here comes red-hot feminine brawn, licensed to kill!