INDIAN cinema, long known as chauvinistic where the female lead is mostly arm candy who breaks into a jig at a moment's notice or breaks into tears as a sacrificing wife, is feeling the wave of change.

Thanks to films like Fashion, which was held together by the lead trio of women - Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and Mughda Godse - and did not have a major male star, Bollywood could be heading back to a time when women ruled the screen.

Many female-oriented movies have done well in the past: From Mother India in the 1950s to Saraswatichandra in the 1960s to Seeta Aur Geeta in the 1970s and Nagina in the 1980s, there have been many female-centric movies that have created a stir.

Then in the 1990s it seemed women-oriented films did not work. But the new millennium dawned with a lot of promise for the fairer sex with Jism (2003), Murder (2004) and Page 3 (2005). In the central role, Bipasha Basu (right) took Jism to heady heights in the very Hollywood style femme fatale murder mystery. As for Murder, whether it was the much publicised kisses that Mallika Sherawat shared with Emraan Hashmi or the convoluted plot, it made her a star.

These films relied heavily on sex and controversy and Neha Dhupia of Julie fame was famously quoted as saying: "Today, it's only sex and Shah Rukh Khan that sell."

However, all that women power petered out quickly. Mallika failed to recreate the magic in Ugly and Pagli and again in Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam. Rani Mukherjee, could not save Laaga Chunri Mein Daag and Aishwarya created Dhoom with Hrithik by her side but could not make Umrao Jaan a crowd-puller. Even the evergreen Madhuri Dixit's comeback in Aaja Nachale failed to make the crowds dance in the aisles.

But now, with projects like Meerabai Not Out and Jhansi Ki Rani lined up with female actors in the lead, women could rule the box office again.

Bollywood News Service