Top 10 Women-Centric Bollywood Comedy Movies

Bollywood is nowadays breaking gender stereotypes. It is coming up with more and more women-centered movies. Female-centric movies are full of inspiration and motivation. Actresses nowadays perform various vulnerable roles from a homemaker, independent working woman, teacher, rural girl to a heartbroken girl. Some of the Bollywood comedy films that are women-centered are listed below.

1. Queen

This film was released on March 7, 2014, starring Kangana Ranaut, Lisa Haydon, and Rajkumar Rao. This was a low-budget film directed by Vikas Bahl. The film depicts the story of a middle-class girl, Rani. Amid her wedding preparation, her fiancé called off their wedding. Heartbroken, she decides to go to Paris, their pre-booked honeymoon destination. The film's award list is significant with the National Film Award, the Filmfare Award, the Screen Award, the Star Guild Award, and the IIFA Award. Also, Kangana Ranaut was awarded the National Film Award (2015) in the Best Actress category, for her outstanding performance. This film proved to be the biggest blockbuster female-centric Indian film so far.

2. English Vinglish

This film was released on October 5, 2012, in India. This was Gauri Shinde's debut film as a director. The legendary actress Sridevi made her Bollywood comeback almost after fifteen years with this film. She played the role of a middle-aged homemaker who decides to learn the English language to feel confident and make her children feel proud. The film received global applause and performed extraordinarily well at the box office. For her shining performance, Sridevi was rewarded with the Statdust Award, the Hello Magazine Hall of Fame Award, and the Filmfare Award.

3. Happy Bhag Jayegi

The film story is centered on a Punjabi girl, Happy. She elopes from her marriage to marry her boyfriend and, by mistake, reaches Lahore, Pakistan. Diana Penty plays the role of Happy. The film also features Ali Fazal, Abhay Deol, Jimmy Shergill, and Momal Shiekh. The film was released in India on August 19, 2016. It was written and directed by Mudassar Aziz. The film received an average response from the critics. And it performed well enough at the box office to have a sequel, titled Happy Phir Bhaag Jayegi.

4. Darlings

This dark comedy film was released on the digital platform Netflix on August 5, 2022. It is co-written and directed by Jasmeet K. Reen. The film is star cast with Alia Bhatt, Shefali Shah, Vijay Verma, and Roshan Mathew in prominent roles. The story is about how Badrunissa Shaikh (played by Alia Bhatt) emerges from a toxic relationship with her husband. This impactful film was well-praised by Indian critics.

5. Good Luck Jerry

This film was released on the digital platform Disney+Hotstar on July 29, 2022. The film is directed by the debutant Sidharth Sengupta. It stars Janhvi Kapoor in the leading role. She plays a village girl who engages in drug dealing. The story is about how bravely and smartly she comes out of this business. Janhvi's outstanding performance was praised by the critics, and the film performed well at the box office.

6. Pataakha

Pataakha is a comedy drama film released on September 28, 2018. The film story is about two rural sisters, played by Radhika Madan and Sanya Malhotra. The film is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj. The storyline is based on the short story Do Behnein, by Charan Singh Pathik. The two striking sisters, always ready to fight with each other, are constantly provoked by their neighbor Dipper (played by Sunil Grover). The film was well-received by the critics.

7. Mimi

‘Mimi’ was released on July 26, 2021. The character Mimi is played by the actress Kriti Sanon. It also stars Sai Tamhankar and Pankaj Tripathi in prominent roles. The film is directed by Laxman Utekar. The film is about a stage dancer who desires to become an actress. To collect some savings and follow her dream, she accepts the offer of becoming a surrogate to a foreign couple. Later, the couple wants Mimi to abort the child. But, Mimi, rejecting the idea of abortion, accepts the child. The film is filled with light-hearted comedy and family drama. It was well-praised by the critics.

8. Nil Battey Sannata

This film was released on April 22, 2016 in India. It is directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. It is star cast with Swara Bhaskar, Riya Shukla, Ratna Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, and Sanjay Suri. This film is about an inspirational mother-daughter duo. To motivate her daughter in her studies, the mother joins her daughter’s school. Alongside, she works four different low-key jobs to run her family. The film was applauded by the critics and the audience. This comedy-drama film performed well at the box office. Swara Bhaskar won the Best Actress Award at the Silk Road International Film Festival, 2016.

9. Hichki

This 2018 film is directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra. It was released on March 23, 2018. The story is based on the autobiography Front of the Class by Brad Cohen. This film marks the comeback of the actress Rani Mukerji, almost after four years. She plays the role of a school teacher with Tourette syndrome. She teaches grade 9F students, who come from slums and are ill-treated mainly by the other grade students and teachers. She is determined to teach her class students the value of education and good character. The teacher-student bond brings out the humor in the story. The film was well-received by the audience.

10 .Veere Di Wedding

This film was released on June 1, 2018, in India. It is star-casted with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhasker, and Shikha Talsania in prominent roles. The storyline revolves around the life of four childhood friends. They meet at one of the friends engagement party and discover that they all have some issues in their respective relationships. They decide to go on a vacation to Thailand. They discuss each others issues and try to solve them. Ultimately, all four friends have settled their problems, and their friendship blossoms forever. The film's first-day box office collection was a record for a women-centered Bollywood film.