Opinion | Real Deal: The Girls Bollywood Didn’t Quite Launch

For decades, Bollywood decided when a heroine had arrived. Now, sometimes, the audience gets there first.

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There used to be a fairly reliable formula for becoming a Bollywood heroine — a big banner, a famous co-star, a glossy poster, a song designed to become unforgettable. And, ideally, a surname that made the industry curious before audiences even knew her face.

The formula was never quite as simple as that. Talent mattered. Luck mattered. The right director, film and moment could change everything. But the industry generally knew how to frame the story. A newcomer was introduced, promoted and gradually turned into a recognisable face. The audience was expected to follow.

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That machinery still works. A major film can give an actress an extraordinary head start, particularly when it comes with a famous family, powerful production house or coveted director.

But something around it has changed.

The industry can still put an actress in the room. But increasingly, what happens after people see her is harder to script.

She might turn up halfway through a streaming series. She might spend years playing supporting parts before one role changes the conversation. She might build a following in another language and cross into Hindi cinema later. Or she might appear in one scene and suddenly become the face everyone is searching for.

Streaming has widened the field. Regional cinema has made the map bigger. Social media has made discovery faster. And supporting roles — once treated as stops on the way to “the real thing" — can now become the thing itself.

Aneet Padda’s rise through Saiyaara is perhaps the clearest recent example.

Before the film, Padda had already worked in Big Girls Don’t Cry and was beginning to establish herself. But she was hardly being presented as Bollywood’s next great heroine. The film took off, and so did Padda. Her chemistry with........

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