Did your heart do a little dance post seeing Farhan Akhtar’s latest announcement of the girls’ road trip movie, ‘Jee Le Zara’? Not only is the idea cool but also desperately needed! Why should boys have all the fun, right?! The film already looks like a super blockbuster, since the star cast is fabulous! Getting Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt all under one roof? I mean, come on!! Though it also made us sit down and wonder that there haven’t been many female multi-starrers in Bollywood, or at least where the women weren’t mere showpieces and actually got to lead the story. Sure, there have been some major ensemble cast movies but mainly centered around the men.
This is a new cinematic era with women-centric stories being written and played by strong, talented, powerful women. Cinema is a very important medium that helps society progress so this power should be used carefully and utilized to the fullest. We’re surely grateful to those who started the trend and decided to put forth female characters with hard-hitting stories and some meaning to their roles. Hey, we’re not against some mindless, fun-filled films that make for a breezy watch, but we sure love to see talented actresses get their due and smash patriarchal norms once in a while!
So we thought we’d put together a list of some of Bollywood’s best women multi-starrers where they ran the show or at least got as much importance as the male characters. Well, luckily some of these gems are on our OTT platforms.
1. Pink (Netflix)
This 2016 legal thriller saw Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang caught in a case of sexual assault, with Amitabh Bachchan playing their lawyer. This Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directorial received widespread critical acclaim with some power-packed dialogues and even got remade in Tamil and Telegu. This movie scores an 8.1 on the IMDb meter and saw the 3 talented actresses run the show and how!
2. Mission Mangal (Disney+Hotstar)
This 2019 Jagan Shakti directed movie was based on the scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who made India’s first expedition to the Mars Orbit possible. It had an amazing ensemble cast comprising Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen and Kirti Kulhari, alongwith Akshay Kumar and Sharman Joshi. The film saw the women lead the story and was truly an ode to the inspirational women who achieved the unthinkable.
3. Dil Dhadakne Do (Netflix)
This 2015 Zoya Akhtar directed family drama is a fun, light-hearted watch comprising a starry ensemble cast including Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah. The story basically revolves around a dysfunctional family, who learn to be there for each other. The best part of this feel-good film is that all the characters were given equal importance in pushing the story forward.
4. Lipstick Under My Burkha (Amazon Prime Video)
This 2016 black comedy written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava features Ratna Pathak, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur in the lead. This coming-of-age drama explores the lives of 4 unapologetic women in search of freedom. The film is packed with nuanced performances and helps shatter patriarchy without being too moralistic.
5. Aisha (Disney+Hotstar)
This 2010 rom-com directed by Rajshree Ojha featured an ensemble cast headlined by Sonam Kapoor, Amrita Puri and Ira Dubey, alongwith Abhay Deol and was loosely based on the 1995 Hollywood movie ‘Clueless’. A tale of friendship, laughter, fickleness and fun, this is definitely a movie to watch with your girl gang!
6. Yuva (Netflix)
This 2004 Mani Ratnam movie based on social issues with a pretext of politics, featured a starry ensemble cast comprising Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Vivek Oberoi and Esha Deol. This movie saw all characters in meaningful roles and achieved revolutionary cult status with time.
7. Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (Amazon Prime Video)
This 2011 Maneesh Sharma directorial featured Anushka Sharma, Parineeti Chopra, Dipannita Sharma and Aditi Sharma in the lead alongside Ranveer Singh. This fun-filled, roller-coaster ride of a movie revolves around four women getting back at a fraudster for conning them. The story was inspired by Jeffrey Archer’s novel ‘Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less’ and did well at the box office. Incidentally, this was Parineeti Chopra’s first film and even won her all the Best Debutant awards that year, including the prestigious Filmfare.
8. Parched (Amazon Prime Video)
This 2015 women-empowerment drama is written and directed by Leena Yadav and features Radhika Apte, Surveen Chawla, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Sayani Gupta in the lead. This coming-of-age movie is about four women from a village in Gujarat being their unapologetic selves and fighting against patriarchal norms. This film is an inspiring watch filled with great performances and dialogues.
9. Veere Di Wedding (Zee5)
This 2018 Shashanka Ghosh directorial is a remake of the 2015 Hollywood film ‘The Wedding Ringer’ and another one to watch with your girl gang. The movie chronicles the life and tales of 4 best friends played by Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania. Although the film mostly received negative reviews, it was an attempt to make a necessary all-women film for women, though we wish it had more to offer.
10. Kalank (Amazon Prime Video)
This 2019 Abhishek Verman directed magnum opus had a star-studded ensemble cast comprising Madhuri Dixit, Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sanjay Dutt. Set in the pre-independence era, this movie showcases love, despair, loss, greed, revenge and betrayal with the backdrop of the partition. The film didnt get box office success but was lead by a female point of view and saw all women characters playing strong, pivotal roles.