How often do you see a sarvagunn sampann hero in a Bollywood film giving up his world to be with the woman of his dreams? Or how about spotting a female breaking into a sizzling dance on some steamy song in the middle of nowhere in real life? The chances are as bleak as Taimur Ali Khan not making headlines for his cuteness! Thus, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, we thought of putting together a list of movies that were held to glory by strong women characters.

Not challenging the filmmakers or filmmaking, but let’s get one thing straight – when it comes to depicting feminism, many have missed the mark. It is rare to find films that reflect upon the reality of society, especially the one that concerns females. In times when there has been enough said to pin down the definition of feminism, Veere Di Wedding shines as a glorious example. Breaking the stereotype of a typical woman role, Rhea Kapoor showed her Veeres Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsania as these women of substance. In the not-a-chick-flick, these four stars have varied shades, different taste in men, contrary views on love and marriage but woven by the very element of friendship.

Veere Di Wedding is now streaming on ZEE5, tune in now.

Kangana Ranaut’s portrayal of Rani needs no introduction. Stepping out the shy and timid Rani’s cocoon to become the queen of her own fairytale, Kangana conquers it all from the word go. And that ‘solo honeymoon’ is simply the cherry on cake top! The actress was highly praised for her performance and the film remains one of her best delivers till date.

A huge shoutout to Lisa Haydon’s character Vijaylakshmi! To know why, we recommend you watch the film ASAP.

Queen was so successful that it’s being remade in Telugu and Tamil too, starring Tamannaah and Kajal Aggarwal in Kangana’s role respectively.

A heartwarming story of a housewife who is undermined by her own, director Gauri Shinde beautifully brings the reality of many homemakers out there. Shashi, the protagonist in English Vinglish gets a chance to prove her worth, and boy, doesn’t she shut up everyone with her fluent English?

Of course, the later veteran Sridevi was a delight to watch in the film. This is hands down one of her most memorable performances!

English Vinglish is now streaming on ZEE5, watch it now.

A crazy bachelorette is pretty much the fantasy of every Indian bride ever! Angry India Goddesses starring Sandhya Mridul, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Sarah Jane Dias, Anushka Manchanda, Amrit Maghera, Rajshri Deshpande, and Pavleen Gujral with Adil Hussain is exactly about this very crazy affair.

A squad of mad hatters meets in Goa for a bachelorette of one of their own. What happens next is for you to find out after watching the movie! Feel the liberation, ladies. You deserve it!

If you are a Kareena Kapoor Khan or Arjun Kapoor fan, but still haven’t watched Ki & Ka, you are not their fan. Period! Written and directed by R. Balki, the film throws light on the society’s expectations of a male and female. It also emphasizes on the need to treat all genders as equal – #BalanceForBetter.

The way Kareena and Arjun’s characters embark on their respective journeys speaks volumes of gender equality as much as it does of women empowerment and feminism.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns was a Kangana Ranaut show all the way! Tanuja ‘Tanu’ Trivedi and Manoj ‘Manu’ Sharma, it was Kumari ‘Kusum’ Sangwan aka Datto who shone bright like a diamond. A Haryanvi athlete, Datto settled for nothing but the first prize. She gave up the man she loves, for another woman, for Datto can go on without a male just fine.

Beaming with confidence, we need more characters like Datto in Bollywood. A tough nut to crack, she loved courageously and let go of it with even more bravery!

Watch the entertaining film starring Kangana, R. Madhavan, Deepak Dobriyal here.

Feminism is not about male bashing. Similarly, it is not always the male who can do wrong unto a woman. Men equally deserve the benefit of doubt, and if there is one Bollywood film that gets the message on-point, it is Aitraaz.

Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan, Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the movie follows the narrative of a strong-willed wife who safeguards her husband’s character. An interesting plot twist comes when Kareena’s character defends her husband, played by Akshay, against the molestation charges alleged by Priyanka’s character in a court of law.

Watch a glimpse of the movie here.

Swara Bhasker is one of the few actors known for her spectacular film choices. In Nil Battey Sannata, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari brings out the best in Swara. She plays a mother whose daughter is reluctant to attend school owing to financial constraints. But Swara’s character Chanda comes up with an interesting way to convince her little one!

Besides critical acclaim, Nil Battey Sannata won recognition at various film festivals worldwide.

Watch how Chanda motivates her daughter to excel in life, stream Nil Battey Sannata on ZEE5 for free.

Be it Hum Saath Saath Hain, Haider or Andhadhun, Tabu is hands down one of the finest actress Indian film industry has seen! Astitva (2000) is a sensitive family drama film starring Tabu, Sachin Khedekar and Shrikant Pandit.

Tabu plays Aditi who inherits a large fortune from her music teacher Malhar Kamat. After his death, Aditi’s world goes topsy-turvy as her husband Shrikant Pandit finds out that she had once slept with Malhar in a moment of weakness. She has some bitter truths to reveal to Shrikant before she walks out of his life!

Astitva, which translates to existence, touches upon issues like male chauvinism, marital abuse and extra-marital affairs. At the same time, it also depicts how Aditi braves it all. Watch this striking film on ZEE5 for free here.

Written by Shoojit Sircar, Ritesh Shah, and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury 2016 film Pink established one fact very well – ‘No’ means NO. Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tairang play three young, independent and self-sufficient women living together in Faridabad. However, things take turn for worse when they are accused of being prostitutes and charged with attempted murder by three men they partied with one night.

What follows next is a series of courtroom argument wherein the girls state that the men tried to rape and sexually assault them, which resulted in an injury. Amitabh Bachchan plays the lawyer who defends these females, Deepak Sehgal. One of the path-breaking films ever made in India, Pink focused on the consent of a woman and her right to say no!

Starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Nandita Das, Naveen Andrews, 2006 film Provoked is based on the real-life story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia. Kiran, a Punjabi woman, had moved to Southall, UK, after marriage. After enduring physical abuse and domestic violence at the hands of her husband for ten years, she kills him.

Watch Aishwarya’s through-provoking performance in Provoked on ZEE5!

These above-mentioned films bring into the limelight different shades of women, and how they are dealt with on celluloid. Nonetheless, it is the beginning of what we hope is an illustrious future for the portrayal of womankind in cinema. We also hope all the misconceptions and stereotypes are put an end to!

Happy Women’s Day, everyone!