Supporting Actresses In Bollywood: It Is Their Turn In The Spotlight

A supporting role in a movie is very essential but not easy because the quality of supporting actor must be enthralled and pleasant, without overshadowing the lead actor. The supporting actor should be intelligent enough to balance his acting and not become the primary focus of the movie. It is acknowledged by the award- granting company. The Indian film industry has many precious and talented actresses. Let's look at some memorable performances by supporting actresses in their movies.

Surekha Sikri:

Surekha Sikri won many awards including three national and one filmfare. Her first best supporting national award was in the film "Tamas"(1988), The film story of the partition of India and Pakistan, it is based on "Bhim Sahni's novel. Surekha played Rajo. In 1994 she won second best supporting actors award for Mammo,where she did very well his character. In Aparna Sen's Mr. and Miss Iyer she had limited screen time and she gave powerful scenes. In Badhai Ho(2018) she won her third national film award for supporting actress where the story is about Nina Gupta's character but Surekha gave an impressive performance.

In the movie "Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro" her role in this movie was much older than real age ,she played Salim's mother and her performance was appreciated by audiences. In kissa Kursi ka  (1977) she start acting career and worked in many film ,television shows ( sanjha chulha in 1990 and Balkan Vadhu in 2008-2016).

Supriya Pathak:

Supriya Pathak won many awards in her career together with three filmfare for supporting roles, she  played Dhankor Baa in Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. Her role in the movie is bitter and she played very well. She won Best supporting filmfare award (2013).  The film Kalyug she cast as 'Subhadra', even though it is a simple role she won Best supporting filmfare award in 1982.

Next movie Bazar there she played a simple and  loving character and won a filmfare award in 1983. In 2009 she played Ranvir Kapoor's lovely mother in Wake Up Sid. In 2002 her character "Hansa Parekh'' in a TV show Khichdi gave her popularity. She has done many memorable roles in films and on TV.

Shefali Shah:

Shefali Shah, winner of many awards, especially one national and two filmfare supporting actress awards, remembered as Pyari Matre, a child-like, sweet personality in Satya(1998) and won Best actress critics filmfare award. In The Last Lear her role as a Vandana reached the best supporting national award 2009. 

She won Best supporting actress filmfare award in waqt: The race against time (2005) she played Akshay Kumar's  mother but She is younger than him and in Dil Dhadakne Do (2o14) her role is mother of Ranveer singh, Priyanka Chopra but both are close to Shefali's age and she did very impactful roles in both movies. In Gandhi, My father (2007) she played Kasturba Gandhi. Her role for this film was double her age and again she did good performances.

In the 2022 movie Jalsa, her brilliant acting as Rukhsana Mohammad, she has impressed the audience. In the Netflix series `Delhi Crime' her character is Vertica Chaturvedi and the story of this show is based on the Nirbhaya case. This series reveals her adaptability and ability to deliver a perfect role according to the story. 

Rohini Hattangadi:

Rohini Hattangadi won many awards, specifically one national and two Filmfare awards for supporting actress. She is popular as the mother of Sanjay Dutt (Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.), In the movie Agneepath (1990) she played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother and won Best supporting Filmfare award. In Govind Nihalani's Party (1984), she played a character Mohini, an alcoholic woman who quit acting career to get married. For this movie she won the Best supporting national award. When she was only 27 years old,  she played Kasturba Gandhi (Gandhi 1982) and won the 'British Academy' Film Award for supporting actress. Her career best surprising performance in Mahesh Bhatt directed Saaransh, with co-star Anupam Kher.

The movie focuses on a Maharashtrian couple who had to try to manage their life after the death of their son at a very young age in New York. In the year 1985 this movie was officially nominated for Academy Awards best foreign language movie. She has won  another filmfare Best supporting actress award from  Mahesh Bhatt directed movie Arth (1984). She always impressed audiences by her  acting in the films like Pukar (2000) comic role, ChaalBaaz(1989) she played Amba a negative and comic character, Jalsa (2022) she gave a small and impressive performance as Rukmini.

Dolly Ahluwalia:

Ahushman Khurana's Drinking mother  character In Vicky Donor (2012) film made Dolly Ahluwalia, a new kind of sparkling mummy in Bollywood movies and won Best supporting National award. In The movie Bajate Raho (2013) she played Mrs. Baweja and she played his character nicely. Ahluwalia is costume designer and for her work she won three National and three filmfare awards for Best costume designer. 

Divya Datta:

Divya Datta worked in various films and showed her acting abilities, movies like Veer-Jara(2004) she played Shabbo, In Delhi-6 (2009) played Jalebi, in Bhag Milkha Bhag (2013) she played Milkha's sister Isri Kaur. Divya won the National best supporting actress award for Irada in 2018. She acted in around 60 films and some TV series also. 

Tanvi Azmi:

Tanvi Azmi, won her Best National Supporting Actress Award for Bajirao-Mastani, (2014), her character is Radhabai, Bajirao's mother. She gave many impressive performances in movies like Dushman (1999), where she played a caring mother of three daughters, Pyari Behna  in (1986), Akele Hum Akele Tum (1996). In Dar (1993) she played a very good character as Juhi Chawla's sister in law.

Richard Chaddha:

Richard Chaddha famous for her character Bholi Punjaban in the movie Fukrey (2012) and  Fukrey Returns (2017), in the movie 'Goliyon ki Raasleela Ram-Leela' her role was Rasila Sarina. Her character Nagma Khatoon in the famous movie Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) made her Best actress critics winner and in the movie Sarabjit (2016) movie's role sukhpreet kaur provides a chance to show her talent. She was honored by the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari with Bharat Ratnas Dr. Ambedkar Award 2020, the award for her contribution to Indian cinema. 

Kalki Koechlin:

Kalki Koechlin played a character Chanda, a teenage prostitute in rhe movie Dav.D (2009)  and for this role kalki has won Best Supporting filmfare award. In the movie Zindagi  Na Milegi Dobara (2011) kalki played Natasha Arora, who is a modern possessive girl, in the movie Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (2013), Kalki's character is a happy, loving girl. In the movie Gully Boy (2019) she played a rapper. She has done every movie character with dedication and impresses the audience.

Lisa Haydon:

In the movie Queen (2013), Lisa Haydon played Vijayalakshmi, her character is bold and independent and she has achieved appreciation by audiences. In the film Santa Banta PVt Ltd (2016) where she performed some stunts in the film because she played a character which seems to be inspired by fictional character Lara Croft. In the Rascal (2011) she played a glamorous and hot character, Dolly. In the movie Shaukeen (2014), she played Ahana Bakshi, a social networking addicted girl, annoyed by some Facebook comments. The movie Housefull 3 (2016) Lisa played as Jamuna 'janny'. In Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Lisa played a character named Lisa D'Souza in a cameo role in the film.

That is about a few actresses who have entertained us with their acting talents but the list of actresses who have played supporting roles are long. They will never fail to impress us with her captivating performances.

Written by: Jyoti Malik