Bollywood's lead actresses are slowly becoming equally prominent in the industry as their leading men. Be it picking up varied roles or taking bold fashion steps, they are not far behind the 'heroes' of B-town. And along with this, their breakthrough performances are undoubtedly making all the right noises.

While earlier our leading ladies were only limited to 'eye-candy' roles, today they have parts written for them that are equal parts challenging and progressive. Be it female-led films or content-driven movies, the new-age actresses are all in to make an impactful journey for themselves. 

Here’s looking at the female stars who put their best acting feet forward, creating the right buzz in the year 2021. 

VAANI KAPOOR - CHANDIGARH KARE AASHIQUI

Taking on a new challenge, Vaani Kapoor 'transformed' herself into Maanvi Brar to fit into her character in Abhishek Kapoor's Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui. The actress, who has played otherwise 'normal' roles, took it upon herself to smash all stereotypical societal barriers with her role. In the film which co-stars Ayushmann Khurrana, Vaani sinks her teeth into her character from the word go and gives a no-holds-barred performance. Vaani and Ayushmann not only look great together but also share fiery chemistry onscreen. Through the film, Vaani motivates every community to embrace their choices and accept them for what they call, ‘not normal’ in their very normal world.

TARA SUTARIA - TADAP

Tara Sutaria - the girl who started off her journey as a child artist impressed one and all with her smashing Bollywood debut in 2019 with Dharma Productions' Student Of The Year 2. And right when everyone thought that Tara is here only for glam-sham roles, the actress proved them all wrong with Milan Luthria's Tadap which released in theatres on December 3, this year. In Tadap, Tara as Ramisa had the most to do - two challenging personalities to play. And guess what? The actress passed with flying colors. Combining her expressive look with A1 acting skills, Tara managed to take the cake with her unexpected and unpredictable role. In a demanding role, the talented actress came across as a natural and her unrestrained mature performance was captivating.

KATRINA KAIF - SOORYAVANSHI

Rohit Shetty's films are mostly for his 'heroes' and that's a fact known to all. But the filmmaker changed it for good with Akshay Kumar's Sooryavanshi where his leading lady Katrina Kaif got a super-strong part to play as Aditi. Katrina not only lent support to AK in the action-packed film of Rohit's cop-universe but also molded the story through her character. Be it her acting skills on her sensual dance moves in Tip Tip Barsa Paani reboot version, Kat pretty much checked all the boxes!

JANHVI KAPOOR - ROOHI

Janhvi Kapoor stepped out of her comfort zone effortlessly for Hardik Mehta's Roohi opposite Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma. Not only did the actress showcase a never-seen-before avatar of hers in the horror-comedy but also impressed with her comic timing. She was effective, convincing and pulled this one off with ease. 

PARINEETI CHOPRA - SAINA & SANDEEP AUR PINKY FARAAR

2021 was definitely Parineeti Chopra's year and no one can deny this. With three back-to-back successful performances in the first quarter of 2021, Pari owned the year and how. Parineeti stunned as Sandeep in Dibakar Banerjee's film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar opposite Arjun Kapoor. In her raw and real avatar, Pari let her acting do the talking. A little after, the actress captured everyone's attention in Saina Nehwal's Amol Gupte's biopic Saina. It wouldn’t be wrong to say the biopic played as a game-changer for her. Brownie points to the actress for effortlessly slipping into Saina’s role physically as well.