Move
over
Lara
Croft.
Because
our
desi
heroines
are
here
to
give
you
a
run
for
your
money.
It's
the
new
age
Bollywood
heroine,
who
is
no
more
the
damsel
in
distress.
Yeah...
She
packs
quite
a
punch.
Case
in
point.
Shilpa
Shetty
in
the
recently
released
Dus.
She
was
noticed
in
Dus
more
for
her
action
sequences
than
her
dancing
ability.
It
was
well
received
by
the
audience.
The
movie
saw
her
doing
some
high
flying
kicks
and
other
daring
stunts.
This
woman
proves
that
acting
and
dancing
is
not
all
she
does.
Quite
a
multi-talented
actress,
this
one.
Even
the
petite
Esha
Deol
had
an
action
oriented
role
in
Dus
as
well
as
in
Dhoom
playing
a
con
girl
in
both.
When
talking
about
stunts,
there
has
to
be
a
mention
to
India's
answer
to
Lara
Croft.
Namely
Lara
Dutta.
(Pun
unintended).
Lara
is
one
actress
who
is
not
afraid
to
display
her
macho
side.
She
has
no
issues
if
she
comes
across
as
someone
who
can
take
care
of
herself.
For
Vikram
Bhatt's
Elaan,
Lara
performed
some
daring
stunts
without
a
stuntman.
In
fact,
it
is
said
that
she
went
through
a
rigorous
training
session
for
the
action
sequences,
prior
to
the
movie.
And
her
hard
work
sure
shows
on
screen.
While
on
the
topic
of
Elaan,
the
other
actress
in
the
film,
namely
the
otherwise-perpetually-whimpering-damsel-in-distress
Amisha
Patel,
managed
to
surprise
the
audience.
She
was
seen
driving
monster
trucks
and
was
quite
comfortable
being
'one
of
the
guys.'
A
refreshing
change
from
the
'save
me'
act
that
has
become
a
trademark
for
the
lass!
Perhaps
that's
the
reason
why
even
the
tagline
of
the
film
acknowledged
the
fact
that
the
leading
ladies
in
a
formula
film
can
be
a
'Hero'
too.
'Five
unlikely
Heroes...And
One
Elaan'
read
the
tagline
wherein
Lara
and
Amisha
were
included
in
the
hero
list.
Another
spunky
actress,
Sameera
Reddy
is
all
for
action
on
screen.
Her
action
director
Tinu
Varma
made
her
do
quite
a
few
stunts
in
Musafir.
Those
who
have
seen
the
movie
saw
Sameera
go
through
glass
tables,
climb
a
floor
and
shoot
guns.
Sameera
thought
that
these
stunts
were
the
most
exciting
part
of
the
movie.
Similarly
the
Shah
Rukh-
Kareena
starrer
Asoka
saw
Kareena
performing
sequences
with
a
sword.
If
one
has
to
count,
recently
there
have
been
many
actresses
who
have
performed
not-so-conventional
roles.
Sushmita
Sen
and
Isha
Koppikar
played
the
no-nonsense
cops
in
Samay
and
Kyaa
Kool
Hai
Hum
exuding
loads
of
cool
attitude.
They
were
as
good
at
handling
guns
as
their
guys.
Kashmira
Shah
was
the
only
female
hooligan
in
the
entirely
menacing
male
mob
in
Jungle.
And
she
seemed
quite
comfortable
holding
a
rifle
through
most
part
of
the
movie.
Quite
masculine,
we
must
say!
In
the
coming
months,
the
audience
will
witness
some
more
action
packed
babes!
Girl-next-door
Tara
Sharma,
who
will
soon
be
seen
in
the
horror
flick
Amavas,
insisted
on
doing
all
her
stunts
by
herself.
She
has
performed
stunts
like
flying
over
a
car,
while
being
held
by
a
harness,
of
course.
Celina
Jaitley
is
undergoing
some
heavy
duty
training
for
the
desi
version
of
Charlie's
Angels.
However,
this
film
is
still
in
its
nascent
stages.
You
can
also
expect
the
graceful
Aishwarya
Rai
to
do
some
action
in
the
sequel
to
Dhoom.
Also
expect
Priyanka
Chopra
to
display
some
macho
martial
arts
in
the
Don
remake
akin
to
what
Zeenat
Aman
did
in
the
original.
And
the
most
interesting
of
them
all
is
Antara
Mali
who
will
be
seen
playing
a
guy
trapped
in
a
girl's
body
in
Mr.
Ya
Miss.
Though
the
physical
form
of
the
Mali
in
the
film
is
that
of
a
female;
from
the
heart,
mind
and
soul,
she
is
still
a
male!
She
fights
off
eve
teasers
with
kicks
and
punches.
She
thinks
and
acts
like
a
male
and
her
body
language
is
indicative
of
anything
but
a
female.
Life
always
comes
in
full
circle.
And
so
do
trends.
If
you
think
Bollywood
babes'
daring
deeds
are
only
a
recent
development,
think
again!
Way
back
in
the
30s
when
Hindi
cinema
was
just
evolving,
the
Australian
born
actress
Nadia
graduated
from
a
circus
girl
to
being
Bollywood's
first
actress
who
could
fight
the
baddies
all
by
herself
and
convincingly
so.
She
was
best
known
for
portraying
the
masked,
cloaked
adventuress
Hunterwali
in
1935.
Her
movie
titles
itself
gives
a
clear
indication
of
what
her
films
were
like
-
Hurricane
Hansa,
Pahadi
Kanya,
Lady
Robinhood,
Toofani
Tirandaz,
Stunt
Queen
and
Tigress
to
name
a
few.
Subsequently
tagged
as
Fearless
Nadia,
she
went
on
to
marry
prominent
producer-director
Homi
Wadia
in
the
early
1960s
and
retired
from
films.
Looks
like
the
Hunterwali
days
are
back.
Our
current
actresses
could
give
the
Fearless
Nadia
some
tough
competition.
Going
by
the
recently
released
movies
and
also
those
that
will
be
released
in
the
near
future,
it
appears
that
this
trend
is
here
to
stay.
These
women
need
no
hunky
heroes
to
protect
them.
No
Sir,
they
can
do
it
themselves.