Babes get fast and furious!

The macho men of Bollywood have competition ahead, and it’s from our actresses who’re giving them a tough fight when it comes to doing action on screen. The past year-and-ahalf has seen a surge in Btown hotties foraying into the male bastion of action — to kick the myth of the docile heroine into oblivion. Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor and Shweta Bharadwaj have all already revealed their daredevil streaks. The genre is catching on with others donning the action-star mantle too in forthcoming films, even risking injury in the bargain, like Nandana Sen did while doing stunt sequences recently. The year kickstarted with the hottie-on-heels Deepika Padukone indulging in some serious ass-kicking in Chandni Chowk to China. Now other actresses are taking the action to an altogether different level. Sample this: In Soham Shah’s Luck, newcomer Shruti Haasan has done her own stunts, including one where she is suspended midair from a height of 2,000 ft. Another newcomer Aruna Shields will be seen ‘bike bungee jumping’ from one skyscraper to another for the Vivek Oberoi-starrer Prince. Akshay Kumar’s action mania seems to have finally rubbed off on his costar Katrina Kaif, as she too has joined the action-babes’ bandwagon by performing a dangerous water-skiing stunt in Priyadarshan’s De Dana Dan; as has Lara Dutta, who shot for some high-octane action sequences in Anthony D’Souza’s underwater adventure film Blue. Koena Mitra and Tanushree Dutta will also be seen in butt-kicking avatars. Divya Dutta will do a boxing scene in Chaloo Movie, while Celina Jaitley jumped from a high rise in Run Bhola Run. “Action is no more the forte of the heroes alone,” say trade pundits. One explains, “Unlike yesteryear heroines, nowadays the actresses are fitter, agile and not afraid to try something new. Exactly what the audiences want. Today the heroine is not just the love-interest, she is also the buddy!” Dia Mirza, who’s playing a femme fatale in Acid Factory, agrees, “They are now treated as near equals; though the hero still is the knight in shining armour, the lady’s definitely no damsel in distress.” Action choreographer Alan Amin points out that it also largely has to do with the fact that performing such stunts are way much safer today than they ever were. “Technology has minimised the risk to a great extent, but still that cannot take away the credit from the actresses who are ready to take more risks. They are far more prepared and many are quite well-versed with kick-boxing and martial arts. Actresses today can carry off the most intricate stunts with practised ease.” Says Soham, “The pre-requisite for any actress is not dancing or singing alone, but also martial arts, kick-boxing and such action-oriented stuff. Today’s women identify more with these types than with the docile ones.” Bipasha agrees. “Women are capable of much more than singing, dancing and calling out to the heroes when in distress. Luckily, filmmakers have realised it and are giving actresses a chance to be something more than just a glamourous prop in the films,” says the sexy actress who’s action sequences in Race and Aa Dekhe Zaraa set pulses racing. Adds Lara, “The bars are being set higher with each passing film.” Priyanka and Aishwarya, who admitted that they find doing action both challenging and addictive, would undoubtedly agree. Yesteryear action queen Fearless Nadia must feel very proud!