My first TGIF post was equally male and female, but since then I’ve just been taking the easy way out and doing men only. No more! Women! At least for one week.
Since this might be my only all female post, I am going to do a historical overview for us all.
First, Sulochana! In reality, Ruby Myers. One of the Jewish actresses of Indian film. She changed her name and became an “exotic” beauty back in the thirties.
Speaking of “exotic” beauties, Fearless Nadia Wadia! My personal favorite. Someday I will be able to dress like her for Halloween (sari, whip, my hair down) without people thinking I am being culturally appropriative. Nadia was a blonde blue-eyed daughter of a British army officer he grew up in India, learned stunt-riding from her father’s fellow officers, and went on to be a circus performer discovered by two up and coming film producers, the Wadia brothers, one of whom ended up falling in love with her.
Now we have reached the 40s-50s era. And I was thinking of the great actresses, Nutan and Nargis and Meena Kumari. But no! We aren’t talking about great actresses, we are talking about beauty. And therefore, Madhubala!
And again, Madhubala!
And one more! She is just so stunningly photogenic.
That gets us to the 60s, and I know I just posted this photo recently for her birthday, but really, Sharmila!
That same era is when Rekha was introduced, but she didn’t really hit her stride until a few years later, in the 70s.
Of course, for dancing and pizazz, you had to compete with Hema Malini.
And then the 80s brought on a new rival, Sridevi! Coming up from the south to dominate all with what were nicknamed her “thunderthighs”
Okay, that is a really nice photo, but it doesn’t show off the feature that made her famous. Like these photos!
The tail end of the 80s saw the arrival of a young actress who is still beloved today, Madhuri!
Okay, one more! That sort of shows off your dance moves.
In the 90s, there was a whole new flock of actresses coming up. Karisma, Raveena, Kajol, Divya Bharti, Aishwarya, and Rani at the tail end of the decade. History has yet to decide which of them is the most significant to the industry, so I am going with Kajol! Because I love her, and also because this photo is AMAZING! Yes, that is Rekha.
For the 2000s, however, there is no contest. Our current leading sexy actress is clearly Katrina Kaif.
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dontcallitbollywood 
A post on “sexy actresses” and no Helen? She was the original sex icon.
It seems to me you just did a post of renowned beautiful actresses (in which case where is Vyjayantimala and her strip tease in Sangam?), not actually “sexy” actresses.
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Gah! I forgot Helen! You are right! And Vyjantimala! Maybe another post later of dancing actresses? Helen, Vyjantimala, Madhuri and Sridevi and Hema again, and who would be a really good dancer present day? I can’t think of anyone but there must be someone since Madhuri!
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I think the best dancer in the present day is Katrina. Just her dances from Dhoom 3 (an otherwise atrocious movie) prove that. Before that, I would include Karishma as a very good dancer, too. Again, just her dances in DTPH are enough proof.
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I didn’t think much of Karisma as a dancer, and then a friend of mine made me watch Mera Yaar Dildar from Jaanwar, and pointed out one sequence that goes almost 2 minutes without a cut, and Karisma dances the entire time. She’s amazing!
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Aishwarya? (as a dancer, not actress). Does she still count as present day?
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Aishwarya is between Madhuri and Katrina chronologically. So I would not call her “present day”, though she can certainly be included. Actually I think even Katrina is not quite “present day”, but unfortunately none of the present day actresses can actually dance (I include Deepika in this). But since Katrina is still active and is regularly in the top 5 or even top 3, I nominated her.
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Agreed about Dips! Great actress, not a fantastic dancer.
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I really need to see more of Sridevi. I have only watched Sadma, Lamhe and English Vinglish, but I loved them all.
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Chandni! You have to see Chandni. And Mr. India. And I am sure there are others as well that I’m just not thinking of at the moment.
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I just noticed Chandni is on Spuul, so I will definitely watch that soon. I have been meaning to check it out since Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
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You need to really watch Sridevi’s Telugu and Tamil films, and especially her films as a child artist, to understand the breathtaking breadth of he talents and accomplishments.
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I will definitely try to find some of those earlier films to watch. Are there any particular favorites or important titles that you would recommend?
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Two Telugu films that I can think of off the top of my head are Kshana Kshanam and Jagadeka Veerudu Atiloka Sundari. They are both considered classics, but they are from the later part of her career. But at least I know both are available on dvd with subtitles. They’re also a good introduction to two major male stars. Another one that I liked was Oka Radha Iddaru Krishnulu (with Kamal Hassan). I think it’s on Youtube, but I’m not sure about subtitles. Generally any film of hers with Kamal Hassan should be good. They starred in a lot of films together, in both Telugu and more in Tamil. You can always watch the original of Sadma in Tamil.
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Great news! Kshana Kshanam is on youtube with subtitles!
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Thanks! I really liked her and Kamal Hassan together in Sadma (even though the ending absolutely broke my heart.) I will try to track down some of their films together, as well as the others you mentioned.
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Oops I just saw below that Kshana Kshanam is on Youtube so I will start with that one. Looks like it’s in pretty great quality as well. Thank you!
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While randomly surfing Youtube videos, I stumbled onto this song clip from a Malayalam film with Sridevi as a child. I can only understand a few words, so only knew that the mother is telling her daughter a story about a king. However, from the graphics they used, it is clear that the story is of King Sibi (from the Mahabharata) who was renowned for his generosity. Anyway, this song gives a hint of Sridevi’s acting talent in a happy scene.
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Now here is Sridevi in a sad scene from the same film as above, complaining to her dead mother about her sufferings now that no one is looking after her:
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This isn’t related to the comment above, I just wanted to make sure you know you won this week’s give away! You should have an email from me at the address you use to login when you make a comment.
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Thanks for sharing those clips. Her incredible talent is apparent, even at such a young age. Even as she grew older, she somehow managed to retain some of that pure innocence. I am looking forward to delving a little deeper into the work that she has done.
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Madhubala and Sharmila for the win! I’m fascinated by them both. I think I’ll never understand why Katrina is considered so beautiful. Her face is symmetrical and she’s tall, blah blah. But otherwise she’s kind of boring. She is a great dancer and a hard worker and she’s given some decent performances, I’ll definitely give her that. For me, Rani will always be one of the most beautiful and iconic actresses. Of the new actresses that have the potential to be iconic, I would pick Deepika. I think she’s stunning and, though I don’t think it’s something that Hindi film stars should necessarily be competing for or their success be judged by, I really, really hope that her international and Hollywood profile surpasses Priyanka’s someday and she’s making some really good choices. I’m far too invested in the Priyanka v. Deepika debate.
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Oh, I am so glad someone else feels that way about Katrina! She looks like a catalog model to me–pretty, but not an iconic beauty. I personally think Vidya is the most beautiful of present day actresses, and one of the best in terms of acting, but doesn’t seem to have the star quality to be iconic? I don’t know? She just seems too “nice,” if you know what I mean.
(Hi! Nice blog!)
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Hi! Thanks for commenting! Nice username 🙂
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I found Deepika just okay in terms of acting and looks and all that in her first several films. But in everything since Chennai Express I’ve just found her mesmerizing, especially her smile. But I think it’s something that isn’t really captured in still photographs as well. She looks beautiful, but she doesn’t have the overwhelming charm I find when she is acting in a movie.
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I’m with Filmilibrarian about Katrina. I find her wooden and so symmetrical as to not actually be beautiful. If she were a better actress I might forgive her. Even with some of the plot issues JTHJ would have made more sense if we could have believed a man like Samar Anand would be will to give up love to wait for a woman. Katrina was just not convincing as that woman. On the subject of Jewish Indian film stars: did you know that Aditya Roy Kapoor’s mother was a Jewish Indian film star? Fun fact. Side note: Miss Braganza I also applaud your choice of name!!!
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Aditya Roy Kapoor’s mother is one of those facts that I hear and think “oh how interesting!” And then promptly forget and two years later I am reminded of it and think “oh how interesting!” all over again.
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Too true. Thank goodness for wikipedia. I cannot tell you how often I look up who is related to who and how! Next we need some easily accessible family trees.
On the subject of families: did you see Rajeev’s actress roundtable? I have so much to say about that, would love to hear you on the topic.
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Actually, I stumbled onto some strange Indian film family trees. Check out these links:
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The real nightmare is that these are now out of date! Post his marriage, Kunal Kapoor is now part of all these graphs. And, thanks to Kareena, there’s the whole Tagore family and Pataudi royal family tied in too.
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I didn’t see it! And I probably won’t get a chance to watch it for a while (unless I can sneakily view it on my cell phone while at a family dinner).
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