10 Bollywood women who came in the way of men's plans

New Delhi: The femme fatale has returned to Indian screens with 'Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns'. Mahie Gill's self destructing love proved to be a threat to others, particularly the men close to her. However, this is not the first time we have seen the emergence of such powerful and mischievous women in Bollywood. Thus, we have compiled a list of 10 women who actually dictated the terms despite being surrounded by deadly men.

Nadira: Florence Ezekiel aka Nadira was probably the first Indian heroine who came closer to being labelled as a femme fatale. However, going by the concept of noir films, she doesn't look very similar to Rita Hayworth, but she did roles which were unconventional.

Sadhana: From 'Who Kaun Thi' to 'Mera Saaya', Sadhana never hesitated in bringing out the negative side of her characters. The kind of mannerism she adapted in 960s is still difficult to match for the current crop of heroines. Her walk, hairstyle and pause redefined the concept of villainous girls in Bollywood.

Ramya: Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, 'Chaahat' (1996) had a good star-cast including Shah Rukh Khan, Pooja Bhatt and Naseeruddin Shah but the woman who stole the show was Ramya. She played an obsessed lover with such conviction that the audience automatically started to sympathise with Pooja Bhatt.

Kajol: Love doesn't always lead to happiness, ask Isha (Kajol) of 1997 film 'Gupt'. It was shocking for the viewers to see an otherwise docile Hindi film heroine in such a negative role. She was so believable that spectators preferred to stay in the cinema hall till the end despite knowing who the actual culprit is.

Madhuri Dixit: 'Pukar' (2000) was Madhuri's opportunity to foray into the world of deserted lovers. One of Bollywood's most underrated directors Rajkumar Santoshi set the film in the army backdrop where a naive officer Jaidev (Anil Kapoor) fell victim to the uncontrolled obsession of a girl called Anjali (Madhuri).

Urmila: In 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya' (2001), Urmila didn't look as lethal as her character in 'Kaun', still she invoked fear in the minds of the viewers. From stalking to assaulting, she displayed every move of a manic lover in the film. It was the viewer who got scared more than Fardeen Khan and Sonali Kulkarni.

Aishwarya Rai: When Mahalakshmi (Aishwarya) pointed the gun towards Shekhar (Akshay Kumar) in 'Khakee' (2004), people thought something extraordinary is going to happen as Aishwarya can't kill anyone, but she fired the bullet without blinking.

Vidya Balan: Director Abhishek Chaubey's black comedy 'Ishqiya' (2010) presented Vidya Balan in an entirely new way. The actress played the role of a woman who looked vulnerable but was very formidable from inside. Bollywood normally prefers to show heroines as a sweet scheming girl but there was absolutely nothing 'soft' about Krishna Verma (Vidya).

Priyanka: It was 'Barfi' (2012) which brought out the latent potential of Priyanka Chopra, but she had hinted about her capabilities in 'Aitraaz' (2004) as well. The never say die attitude was used by a villain this time, that too a female one. She consolidated her position as one of the tough femme fatales with Vishal Bhardwaj's 'Saat Khoon Maaf' (2011).

Bipasha Basu: A star had fallen and had lost the love of her life as well. Now, somebody had to pay for it. Shanaya (Bipasha) made sure that the person at the receiving end could feel the pain of separation before submitting to her demands in 'Raaz 3' (2012).