Katrina Kaif rules Bollywood as monarch bumblebee: A listers like Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu came up short to lure crowds this year, while woman luck's favourite Katrina Kaif and item youngster Malaika Arora Khan plus some newcomers maintained to keep the ticker ticking for Bollywood brave women.
Katrina Kaif: Ramp to rampage - this model-turned-actress has taken Bollywood by storm. Continuing her habit of turning a movie into a hit, the gorgeous face with a stiff upper lip that has now gone desi rocked the box office with her chaste Hindi volleys in Prakash Jha's political thriller Raajneeti. And if that wasn't it, she stood out to wipe out mankind with her pelvic thrusts in the item number Sheila ki jawani from her latest outing Tees Maar Khan. Katrina is leaving no stone unturned to enchant the public with her best.
Malaika Arora Khan: She has the look, the moves and knows how to groove. If Bollywood is synonymous with 'jhatkas' and 'matkas', it doesn't get bigger than this as Malaika left audiences gawking with her hump...her hump, her hump in the item number Munni badnaam hui from Dabangg. Have feet, will dance but won't act. And did one notice, this one's got a surname too to hang on to - Khan.
Vidya Balan: If the leading ladies in B-Town hit the gym with a vengeance to shed the extra kilos, Vidya hogged until she turned herself into a deglam, voluptuous and conniving woman for Ishqiya. Mouthing expletives soaked in chemical derivatives, this Parineeta girl turned femme fatale and left men scratching their brains.
Kajol: There is nothing that she can't do. Daughter, actress, wife, mother - Kajol's dormant comings and goings on the big screen took a surprise turn when the dusky beauty returned with three outings this year, My Name is Khan, We Are Family and Toonpur Ka Superhero. No matter the box office fate, she is one performer the audience would give anything to watch. However, leaving them wanting for more, the mother of two is now headed for a three-year sabbatical.
Konkona Sen Sharma: She already has to her credit powerful movies, the scripts of which some actresses wouldn't even dare read. And Konkona, as she is fondly called, surprised the masses with her metro wifey avatar in the comedy Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? before enacting a lawyer in Right Yaaa Wrong and a sexually aggressive woman in Mirch. Talk about her acting prowess, if one had a parameter to judge, this one deserves nothing but a 10 on 10.
Neetu Singh: As calm as a river and still sporting the fresh glow of the morning sunshine, yesteryear heroine Neetu Singh made a full-fledged comeback in Do Dooni Char 27 years after bidding adieu to celluloid. Bringing a smile on one's face with her acting nuances and immaculate chemistry with actor hubby Rishi Kapoor, she just proved she still has it in her to win people's hearts.
Kangana Ranaut: Perhaps the most unfortunate of talents this year, she was almost jostling for space in multi-starrers like Kites, Knock Out and No Problem but believe you or not, this golden gem did make her presence felt with her glitter in Milan Luthria's retro underworld saga Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai.
Shalini Vatsa: Ever thought Dhaniya from Peepli Live would have an M. Phil degree? No one did, but this full time theatre actress left audiences applauding at her rants in the satire with her splendid portrayal of a rustic, illiterate, short-tempered mother of three with zeal.
Malaika Shenoy: Model, actress and voice-over artiste, this Mumbai-based girl got her due with Peepli Live. Her experience as a TV presenter in reality came handy to bring out the poise, panache and perfection of a star reporter in the black comedy which she edgily used to cast a dig at one real female scribe. Thanks to her involvement in the vibrant English theatre movement in Mumbai, her performance simply couldn't go unnoticed.
Sonakshi Sinha: What would you do if your debut project was with none other than Salman The Khan? Hit the metal and cut down flab! Perhaps the perfect example of fat to fab, Shatru Shotgun's daughter made a Dabangg debut in the year's highest grosser. Getting into the star mode day by day, this one's sure a dark horse.
Anushka Sharma: Petite, pretty and now pricey. This 22-year-old couldn't have asked for more. In two outings with the Yash Raj banner in the year - Badmaash Company and Band Baaja Baaraat - she managed to persuade audiences of her potential with her Delhi 'kudi' role in the latter.