I love the movies! I’ve watched Hindi, English, South Korean, heck even Swedish movies (as long as there are subtitles) if I’ve heard great things about them. But I honestly think we (by we I mean Bollywood) needs to experiment more when it comes to our leading ladies. 2014 was a great year for our actresses when it came to good roles, but I genuinely want to see more – more complex, more grey and more badass. This may sound weird, but I think we need to see women as capable of ruining lives like men (or villains) in our movies do. That’s why I’ve made a short list of female characters from Hollywood movies I’d love to see in our desi movies!
1) Catherine Tramell (Basic Instinct)
The mysterious, provocative and serial murderess, Catherine, was one of the most shocking characters America had seen. Now considered a cult figure, this character has been described by a European critic as this: “a mix between the classic femme fatale and the new psycho killers, one of the most evil characters ever created, on Hannibal Lecter‘s level and we love her for it.” Can Bollywood get a Catherine? It definitely should.
2) Scarlett O’ Hara (Gone With The Wind)
Selfish, shallow and snarky, Scarlett O’Hara was the perfect anti-heroine, but the author Margaret Mitchell was not afraid to make this decidedly unlikable character the main lead. Basically, the entire 1000+ page novel revolved around her. The world belonged to Scarlett and we (okay not us, maybe our grandparents) were just living in it. But she’s not all bad, she’s just a force of nature and it’s time we have someone like her in good ol’ B-town.
3) Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
Please, someone just convince Kangana Ranaut to shave her eyebrows, get multiple piercings and put on her bi*%h mode and make a Bollywood version of this happen! Oh also, someone please make our Censor Board realise that India needs movies like these and women like Salander.
4) Marla Singer (Fight Club)
Marla has just one thing to say when Edward Norton’s character asks her why she visits support groups like he does:
It’s cheaper than a movie, and there’s free coffee.
See! I told you, she’s lovable.
5) Amy Dunne (Gone Girl)
This Amy is so amazing that her husband’s lawyer gave him one piece of advice after he miraculously got out of a murder accusation. He said: “don’t piss her off.” Basically, don’t annoy this woman, she’ll ruin your life. And God only knows we need to have such women in our movies.
What do you think? Which badass and maybe a little crazy lady needs to be Bollywoodized immediately?