Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela Ram Gopal Varma's Rangeela made Urmila a star, quite like her character. The story had Urmila playing a middle-class Marathi girl who starts out as a back-up dancer and goes on to become a star.
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Esha Deol in Ankahee The Vikram Bhatt film was reportedly inspired by his affair with Sushmita Sen. Esha played a famous actress, depicted here as being mentally unstable, who ultimately commits suicide.
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Isha Sharvani in Luck By Chance The Zoya Akhtar film had Isha playing the dumb star daughter who speaks accented English and is dominated by her famous mom. In the same film, Konkona Sen Sharma essayed the role of a struggler.
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Smita Patil in Arth The Mahesh Bhatt film, about extra-marital relationship, based on his own affair with Parveen Babi. Smita Patil plays an actress who goes insane, unable to bear the guilt of being a homebreaker.
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Blasts from the past
Smita Patil in Bhumika Shyam Benegal's 1977 film is based on the life of Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar. Smita won a National Award playing a vulnerable girl who becomes a star after learning the ropes of the fickle film industry.
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Sheena Nayyar in Cover Story Debutante Sheena plays a top actress who is victimised by a journalist on the lookout for a scoop.
Quick take: The film is an attempt to highlight how the media often manipulates celebrities in a bid to get saleable scoops. Newcomer Sheena plays a superstar who agrees to give an elaborate interview to a cynical journalist and her life soon ends up in a shady mess after a twist of events. Cover Story is said to be a remake of Theo Van Gogh's acclaimed Dutch film, Interview.
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Esha Gupta in Raaz 3 Esha plays Sanjana, a starlet who becomes the victim of a jealous superstar whose career is affected by her rise.
Quick take: As rising star Sanjana, Esha is the face of newcomers in Bollywood. The plot highlights how she becomes a victim of jealousy once she starts becoming a star. The realistic backdrop is woven with a fictitious horror premise as a senior actress resorts to black magic to traumatize Sanjana.
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Bipasha Basu in Raaz 3 She plays fading superstar Shanaya, who resorts to black magic to get rid of a budding actress who has hijacked her career and love life.
Quick take: Bipasha has referred to her character Shanaya as the "darkest ever" she has portrayed. She describes the "intriguing character" as one that was exhausting and emotionally draining. Bipasha’s sultry image and bewitching eyes were natural assets that made director Vikram Bhatt choose her for the role of Shanaya, given the fact that the character is heavily into black magic and witchcraft.
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Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture Vidya's role of Silk, a Tamil screen siren based on Silk Smitha, won her a National Award and started the trend of actress-based films.
Quick take: Vidya's National Award-winning role has made her one of the strongest actresses of Bollywood lately and established her as an actress who can carry a film on her shoulder. She took the method route to get into the skin of Silk, gaining weight for certain portions. The Rs 17-crore film has earned Rs 117 crore at the box-office.
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Filmmakers have suddenly discovered a new protagonist in the Bollywood actress, tracking the seamier side of her life beyond the tinsel glitz.
Kareena Kapoor in Heroine Kareena plays superstar Mahi Khanna, who becomes schizophrenic as her stardom starts to fade.
Quick take: Kareena has described the film as one where "the camera is tracking the mind and heart of a super successful actress who is on the edge". The film has been in the news ever since it was announced. First, Madhur signed Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and did an elaborate photo-op at Cannes last year to launch the film. However, Ash got pregnant after shooting for a few days, and Madhur was left with no lead star. Kareena took over. The film promises to expose a few scandals in the film industry.
