Here are some of our picks that clearly showed that female-lead films and a change in narrative is the kind of films we deserve for the upcoming years!
Mahanati
Back in May this year, when ‘Mahanati’ hit the screens and a gorgeous Keerthy Suresh sashayed on the screen emulating the late Savitri Devi with such elan and grace, it wouldn’t have been an exaggeration if someone were to say that she’s got what it takes to carry a film all by herself. While she had some equally strong actors part of the cast, it was her performance that won hearts, it was her sincerity that had critics eating a humble pie about her, and it was her drive to carry the weight of an already popular (and controversial) late star and make it her own. It was the role of a lifetime and Keerthy knew that she’s not one to let go of such an opportunity.
READ: Keerthy Suresh in ‘Sarkar’ Deserves Much Better!
Raazi
Director Meghna Gulzar gives us a hero in Alia Bhatt’s Sehmat, a nubile university student who is pretty much emotionally dragged into becoming a spy for India. In this film, we have a female lead who is more than just a pretty face, who has dialogues far more than her male counterparts, and whose role is far, far more detailed with enough layers to explore. The daughter who loves her father too much, the wife who finds ways to learn more about her husband, the daughter-in-law who does what she can to make the family happy, and the spy whose country beckons her messages. Had this onscreen character been written by a man, there would have been an evident disconnect, something that Meghna empathises and brings out.
READ: Here’s Why We Need More Female Directors and Leads
Kolamaavu Kokila
Nayanthara’s film Kolamaavu Kokila, a film where she plays an unassuming drug peddler sans a hero, created quite an impact in the box office. Reviews, too have been favourable towards Nayanthara, someone who has been proving her mettle and busting myths that a sole woman starring in a film is capable of creating waves. While Nayanthara might have had a hoary start in cinema, it took her a while till she established herself as an actress who chooses her films wisely, where one needn’t go for mass masala-filled films that eventually pander to the audience. In the past, her films such as Maya, Dora, Aramm, and now Kolamaavu Kokila, are perfect examples.
READ: JFW’s Review of Kolamaavu Kokila
Veere Di Wedding
The theme of the film is about women who let their hair down and don’t give in to conventions, about girls who rebel with a cause and wave that middle finger to all those who scream ‘log kya kahenge?’ [what will people say?]. While the film wasn’t much to write home about, it was still the beginning of a dialogue, where women could do whatever they felt like and still have a great time sans the need for a guy in their life. Because girl power!
READ: JFW’s Review of Veere Di Wedding
U-Turn
Samantha in a still from U-Turn
Samantha, headlining a film all on her own for the first time, has opted for a rather safe choice here by playing Rachna in a film that was already lauded when it released two years back. This choice briefly digresses the fact that her “actual” comeback after her wedding with Chaitanya last year was Rangasthalam, a role that hardly left room for her to emote her way to a stellar performance. In U-Turn, she makes up for it and that has a lot to do with Samantha wanting to prove her critics wrong from all these years that she’s more than a pretty face and that she can be more than a prop to the male actors. That truly is something to write home about if not the relatively better performance.
READ: JFW’s Review of U-Turn
Imaikka Nodigal
In Imaikka Nodigal, Nayanthara plays a CBI officer trying to track down a psychopath. The film showcased that her character is not someone to be bogged down by lewd comments or sexist notions, she is someone who has a mind of her own and will do whatever it takes to catch a criminal. Ambitious and with her own team, it’s no surprise that the role was originally written for a man! The film did considerably well at the box-office too!
Kaatrin Mozhi
Jyothika has come a long way, one would think. Right from her days since ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna’ to ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’, a massive change is evident in the way she chooses her films and the roles she emulates. If she embraced subtlety in ’36 Vayathinile’, she went rogue with ‘Naachiyaar’. ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’, however, is a role that isn’t the role of a lifetime for Jyothika. But it isn’t a role we would forget too soon.
The film is a sign that actresses are being taken seriously enough to star in a film entirely on their shoulders. It proves that we need more female leads who are comfortable doing it all by themselves, who are appreciated by the audience, and encouraged by filmmakers to make more films from the perspective of a woman – an everyday, ordinary woman, who, much like Viji, tries to cover her double-chin, quarrels with her siblings and yet, embraces her imperfections and loves herself for it.