Rehana Sultan
In 1970, was a fresh debutant out of school in her 20’s perhaps, dared to sprawl on the bed in blood red chiffon saree fixing herself a drink and coaxing her unwilling customer to join her on the bed. She essayed a role of a prostitute in her very first film, a very daring and bold step for a young actress.
Rehana Sultan had quiet a brilliance, courage and dared to break the mould. She did challenge roles that included her bold performance in the film Shadi Ki Pehli Salgirah in the diploma film followed by Dastak in which she came into the spotlight. However, these bold themes unfairly led Rehana to being typecast and slowed down what should have been otherwise a flourishing career despite earning a widespread praise.
Shabana Azmi
One of the most reputed and veteran legendary actresses of the Indian cinema made a defined her acting debut in Shyam Benegal’s 1974 film Ankur. The film featuring Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag, both did their debut with the film where Shabana Azmi plays the lead role of Lakshmi a woman in rural feudal situation. Her performance as a resilient woman who navigates exploitation earned her many awards. She essayed the role of a low cast married to a laborer who is deaf and mute. She engages in a relationship with the landlord’s son was rather one of her bold scenes.
Shabana is one of the most acclaimed actresses of India with a career spanning across 160 films through her extended work in Art films as well as the mainstream and international projects. Azmi, after the film Ankur, portrayed in distinctive, often unconventional female character lead roles across genre. She proved herself in the film as the wronged wife in Arth with her strong appeal who embarks on a journey to find her true identity.
She is regarded as the pioneer of the Parallel Cinema movement in India with her career span of over 50 years in the film industry.
Smita Patil
Was a renowned actress, had portrayed feisty complex and most unconventional roles often tackling themes of sexuality, exploitation. Few of her most bold films were characterized by her intense performance in films like Mirch Masala, Chakra, Umbartha, Bhumika or in Mandi where she explored the lives of prostitutes in which she portrayed the raw emotions. In the film Arth she explored the infidelity, her extra marital affair and the story moves on to a woman’s journey to independence. A brilliant actress who had comfortably slipped into the role of a decorative character in Namak Halaal and Shakti as well.
Zeenat Aman
One of the top actresses of Bollywood redefined the image of the heroines of the Hindi films in the 70’s. Moving away from the traditional roles towards a westernized bold persona, her career had several landmarks featured with provocative scenes many of which remained as iconic with her bold roles.
She started off with Satyam Shivam Sundaram with the most famous and bold sequence as the character Rupa depicted in various undressed or white translucent saree singing under the waterfall which became the beauty versus the inner purity but was highly controversial after its release.
Zeenat Aman also played the rape survivor seeking justice in the famous blockbuster Insaf Ka Tarazu Her role was considered extremely bold and provocative for the mainstream cinema.
In the film Qurbani in the same year, Zeenat Aman appeared in the song Aap Jaisa Koi solidified her status as a sex symbol. Her style with glamour included bikinis in a conservative in that era.
In Manoranjan the film an adaptation of Irma La Douce featured Zeenat Aman as a prostitute and those days it was considered very daring for an actress.
Shalimar too released had her opposite Dharmendra in several sensual scenes. An actress whose willingness to take on the grey character from a drug addict sister in Hare Rama Hare Krishna to a comfort of portraying sensuality she paved the way to stardom in the film industry for other generations to follow.
Vidya Balan
portrayal of Silk in The Dirty Picture won her many accolades for portraying a village girl who transforms into the bold sex symbol Silk is considered as one of the most transformative performances of Hindi cinema.
Based on the biographic musical drama inspired from the life of the late South Indian actress Silk Smitha, Vidya famously gained weight and even took up to heavy smoking to match the character’s habits. The music album chart, topped with the songs from the film like Ooh La La Tu Hai Meri Fantasy which became a landmark track along with the film’s success.
She has over 14 years remained on the top with women led films in Bollywood.
Tabu
Has frequently been celebrated for her exceptional versatility and her willingness to choose non-conventional character driven roles. Over two decades the actress has consistently moved between mainstream to commercial cinema and created a niche for herself with artistic projects through her career in films.
She is one of the leading actresses doing versatile roles. From a gritty bar dancer in Chandni Bar to a manipulative mistress in Maqbool to a resilient cop in Drishyam, or to a cold-blooded murderer in Andhadhun, Tabu has played complex roles and has often portrayed troubled or literary character roles.
Rani Mukerji
Performed several bold scenes in Hindi. Her range from being intense to romantic portrayals to socially provocative roles, she broke the contemporary stereotype and did the most unconventional roles in her film career.
In Hey Ram she performed a tragic scene that involved a brutal assault during communal riots, with her decision to appear on the screen without makeup. In Black which was one of the most unconventional film, she as Michelle, deaf and blind shares an intimate kiss with her teacher essayed by Amitabh Bachchan. The scene was her expression of her desire, followed by Rani in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna where she is involved in an extramarital affair and had an intimate bedroom scene with Shah Rukh Khan that was considered quite bold as it explored the complex theme of infidelity in Indian cinema.
That was not all, she sparked controversy due to her headstrong character of a journalist in No One Killed Jessica and in Aiyyaa she is featured in a provocative dream sequence showing her character express overt sexual desire from a traditional damsel in distress role to Mardaaani Franchise, Rani Mukerji has performed beyond brilliance with elegance and grit in a dark and sensational subject like human trafficking.
Neha Dhupia
In Julie or Paolli Dam in Hate Story 2, Katrina Kaif in Boom or who could forget Mandakini in Ram Tere Ganga Maili, or Tridha Choudhury and Esha Gupta who gained significant attention for their bold scenes at the launch of their career in films or on OTT with the Web Series like Aashram.
known for her fearless choice of films her approach was with the intimate scenes in various films such as Parched and Phobia or the portrayal of Noor Inayat Khan in the American film, A Call to Spy.
With her choice of versatile roles, she is considered now as the Queen of OTT. She had gained attention and recognition for Lust Stories, Sacred Games and Andhadhun and her film Saali Mohabbat a British Indian Film Sister Midnight premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
Sayani Gupta
In Four More Shots Please and Hina Khan in Damaged 2 had pushed their boundaries on OTT platforms and in mainstreams.
Sunny Leone
The ex-adult movie star made her debut with Jism 2 with few hot and intimate bedroom scenes and also one of her open beach scenes was no doubt one of the boldest debuts in Bollywood cinema.
The Canadian American actress model worked there after in some of the high-profile projects making her one of the prominent actresses of the Hindi films. She will be seen in Ragini MMS 3 not as the lead actress but will be part of the third franchise of the film.
Aditi Rao Hydari
Did a few sensational hot scenes and her Bollywood debut with bold scenes in Yeh Saali Zindagi. A prominent actress, dancer, singer who has established herself in not just Hindi films but also in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam with her versatility, she bagged the role in the Netflix series Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, which gained her a widespread acclaim for her role as the courtesan Bibbojaan.
Esha Gupta
Did her Bollywood debut in Jannat 2 with a bold, hot kissing and bed scene in her very first film. She rose to fame for her commercial hits like the horror thriller, Raaz 3D, the crime drama Rustom and in the action adventure Baadshaho. She earned significant acclaim for her role in the web series, Aashram Season 3.
Paoli Dam
The Tollywood Bengali film actress started her Bollywood career with Hate Story with a very sensual debut. The Bong beauty did many kissing and bed scenes in the film. The notable actress of Hindi films, television and web series is versatile and is primarily known for her films in Bengali.
She has earned a name and prominence with Bengali serial Jibon Niye Khela which made her a household name and in shows like Tithir Atithi. Her much-acclaimed roles were in Kaalbela and Charak which were screened at Cannes Film Festival.
Her most recent were Netflix film Bulbbul and karm in Disney+ Hostar series and a Bengali thriller series Ganoshotru and the film Chhaad wherein she plays a teacher exploring themes for freedom.
Priyanka Chopra
Bollywood and International Superstar, had started her career in films with a bold performance without batting an eyelid that she would be stereotyped to perform in films. Priyanka Chopra however, had taken her career forward to becoming of the most talented and best actresses of the film industry with roles that were not conventional always. She took the plunge into films with her powerful performance.
Her first film was Andaaz in which she had a bold song sequence with the song, ‘Aayega Maza Ab To Barsaat Ka’. She broke hearts while she kept her performance at the top level.
Besides this she had a bold scene with Akshay Kumar in Aitraaz in which she had a negative role she had essayed with ease and beauty that though she was an antagonist in the film, the film revolved around her. Moving forward with her choice of films from Bollywood to Hollywood, Priyanka Chopra soon became the Queen in the film industry.
She also did a few cult movies and few classic cinemas and from films like Barfi, where she essayed the role of a mentally challenged girl, Priyanka did full justice to the role. She is known for her versatile roles like in Mary Kom, a biopic and then to a lover girl in Desi Girl.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali signed her for the film Bajirao Mastani where she looked a perfect Maharashtrian girl, people remember her for her till date.
Priyanka stretched her limits and reached out to do roles that audience and her fans just lapped it, asking for more.
She is now not only the Bollywood Diva but her journey began in the Hollywood long time back with the international cinema with Quantico Web Series and she is a famous actress in Web Cinema on OTT. Hence, one cannot stop with calling her an actress who is bold to try out unconventional roles, but she is an ace actress who proves her worth every time she is on the screen. An actress who can fit into a role with great conviction to make it one of her best films.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is returning to the Indian cinema with S. S. Rajamouli’s epic action adventure, Varanasi. She makes her debut in Telugu films, featuring opposite Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran. With this Priyanka Chopra makes a come back to the Indian cinema after 2019.
Mahi Gill
Or Mahie Gill known for her powerful performances in Hindi and Punjabi films rose to prominence with her breakthrough as Paro in Anurag.
She worked in the film Dev D and made a versatile bold choice often, she portrayed as Madhavi Devi a strong-willed frustrated wife in the series, Saheb, Biwi and Gangster where she did a bold hot kiss scene.
Her other notable films are Dabangg and Paan Singh Tomar while she successfully transitioned into web series, with popular shows such as Apaharan: Sabka Katega, Your Honour and Raktanchal.
Preeti Desai
Made her debut in Shor In The City. The Gujarati born actress Preeti Desai did a smooching bed scene in her debut film and acted in the romantic comedy film One by Two. She later appeared in the international television series, The Rookie and the Guardians of Justice proving her flexibility and her capabilities of doing character roles as well.
Surveen Chawla
Made her debut with the popular soap opera Kahiin To Hoga and later starred in as the protagonist in Kaajjal.
One of the recognized actresses cum dancer for her work and her transition from television to a leading actress on the OTT, Surveen is noted for her widespread fame as the lead role in the erotic thriller Hate Story 2. She has done many other major Indian web series such as Sacred Games, Decoupled, Rana Naidu and then shifted gradually into regional films as well. Similarly, we have Mallika Sherawat and Tanushree Dutta attempted with the bold scenes.
Leave a Comment