Story Brunch
Top 3 Women Centric Movies of early 90s Era
Bollywood has given many super hit films in which actresses were the defining characters unlike the actor dominated movies which is the norm.Many movie scripts have been written with particular actors in mind ,like the role of Amitabh Bachchan in Mohabbatein, Budhha Hoga Tera Baap, and Akshay Kumar in Khiladi series. But there have been some actresses who formed the backbone of the script.
Some of the most famous actress dominated movies in Bollywood have been :
Sita aur Gita – Hema Malini
Mother India– Nargis Dutt
Pakizah– Meena Kumari
Khoon Bhari Maang – Rekha
Chandni– Sri Devi
Dar- Juhi Chawla
Chalbaaz- Sri Devi
Beta – Madhuri Dixit
Mrityudand- Madhuri Dixit
The Dirty Picture- Vidya Balan
Black– Rani Mukherjee
Damini- Meenkashi Sheshadri
Chandni Bar– Tabu
No One Killed Jessica– Rani Mukherjee
Mehndi- Rani Mukherjee
Aandhi- Suchitra Sen
Mirch Masala – Smita Patil
Bhumika- Smita Patil
Arth– Shabana Azmi
English Vinglish – Sri Devi
And many more…
But 3 movies of 90s era stand out because of the popularity, the revenue collection and the cult status the movies gained.
First in the list is movie Chalbaaz,1989.
CHALBAAZ (1989)
Starring Sri Devi , Sunny Deol and Rajnikanth in lead roles,this movie was one of the biggest grossers of 1989. Sri Devi was already an established superstar in Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood by then. This movie went on to become a cult movie based on concept of ‘identical twins separated at birth with contrast nature ‘ and one of the biggest actress dominated hits ever.
Many of the twins based Bollywood movies were inspired from a Telugu hit of 1964, Ramudu Bheemudu, namely Ram aur Shyam starring Dilip Kumar in 1967, Seeta aur Geeta with Hema Malini ,Chalbaaz with Sri Devi and the hit comedy Judwa of Salman Khan,which was recently remade starring Varun Dhawan in lead role.
Chalbaaz is a story of 2 twins, double role by Sri Devi in which one is a docile soft-spoken coward character while other is a shrewd handler of situations and a drunkard.The contrast of both characters ,the plot and stupendous supporting roles by Sunny Deol and Rajnikanth add to the flavor. Its a must watch for full dose of entertainment.
DAMINI (1993)
Damini – probably the biggest Feminist hit of Bollywood, favorite movie of many of that era, an inspiring tale of an ordinary housewife who stands for truth. Starring Meenakshi Sheshadri in lead role,with Rishi Kapoor as her rich husband,Sunny Deol as a righteous lawyer, Amrish Puri as a crooked barrister and directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, the movie will leave you awe struck with the individual performances.
The ‘Tarikh par Tarikh’ dialogue by Sunny Deol in the court room gained cult status and stays relevant even today. Its a story of extraordinary valour by a housewife who goes against her husband,against the rich and mighty, to get justice for her housemaid who was gangraped by her brother-in-law and his friends on the eve of Holi.
The movie has some of the best songs, namely, ‘Jab se Tumko Dekha hai Sanam’.
The courtroom scene has been very well presented with Sunny Deol and Amrish Puri locking horns.
StoryBrunch recommends Damini as a must watch movie for its readers.
BETA (1992)
Beta,starring the actress of the century , Madhuri Dixit , Anil Kapoor and Aruna Irani in lead roles was one of the biggest hits of 90s and the biggest hit of 1992 winning a number of Filmfare awards .The movie was directed by Indra Kumar.
The movie has an interesting plot revolving around a landlord family in a village, of which Anil Kapoor is the sole inheritor . Madhuri Dixit plays the role of a brave and clever young girl who cannot withstand wrongs and sets things straight in the society through smart street tactics. She gets married to Anil Kapoor,who has been manipulated to remain uneducated and innocent by his own step mother Aruna Irani,so that she, her real son and her brother can enjoy on Anil Kapoor’s wealth while Anil Kapoor keeps toiling in the fields. She has also locked Anil Kapoor’s father accusing him falsely to be a lunatic.
When Madhuri Dixit marries Anil Kapoor she figures out the crooked ways of her mother-in-law and tries to fix things in her own clever ways which results in an interesting drama. The movie has a comic plot and keeps one hooked to the story every moment.
Presence of Anupam Kher as the cunning Mama and Laxmikant Berde as the servant Pandu adds to the hilarious scenes in the movie.
