Meet The Forgotten Leading Ladies of Bollywood

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We take a look at some Bollywood starlets  who've disappeared for some unexplained reason. No, these ladies haven't taken a maternity leave; in fact they aren't even married. Besides, they weren't bad actresses. In fact they were at the helm of superstardom when they vamoosed.So, what let to their demise

Rani Mukerjee

Slotted as one of the top best performers of our industry, Rani was at her peak when she suddenly went into the hiding. She has given some rather noteworthy performances right from Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, Bunty Aur Babli, Yuva to Black. From the range of these movies and the genre they fall into, it's quite apparent that she was far from candy floss. But right after Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic in 2008, Rani went into a shell. The reasons she gave were from spending time with her family to redecorating her house. She came back in 2009 with Dil Bole Haddipa, which did marginally at the box office but yet again, post the release followed by the hype and hoopla, she did a disappearing act.

Speculations: Being Yash Raj's blue eyed girl and the fact that their films took a priority as far as Rani went, made a lot of filmmakers hesitant, which is why she lost out on a lot of projects. Her upcoming film No One Killed Jessica may be her next big break.

Preity Zinta

Everybody loves those dimples on Preity's cheeks. Her endearing smile and her everlasting freshness as well as that giggle gave Preity a fan following to die for. She could easily transform from young bubbly girl to a hottie. At her peak though, Preity disappeared from the Bollywood scene. Post 2008 with Heroes, Preity was seen more at the cricket grounds than on film sets. She made news for the cricket team she endorsed rather than an upcoming movie. Her explanation was that she loved the game and wanted to give it her 100% and also post her break up with boyfriend Ness Wadia, she needed the break. Blah!

Speculations: Everyone knows Bollywood careers don't last forever, especially for an actress who slowly and steadily with age starts getting typecasted for only specific roles, in case of which entrepreneur skills are very important. Preity has been a successful businesswoman; with a cricket team in tow and now possibly a studio to her name. Good going. She has however recently voiced her desire to return to films.

Tabu

Some ladies are born with the un-defying quality to create magic in whatever they do. Tabu is just one of them. Her acting skills are par excellence and unquestionable. Till date she has done roles that take sheer guts to perform on screen and done perfect justice to them. Right from Chandni Bar, Namesake, Maqbool, Cheeni Kum... you name it. Here is one woman who lets her work speak for her. Hardly will she go all out and promote her films and bend backwards to convince people about it. She has been called a recluse to a shy person but the truth stands that this one here is no social butterfly. Well, not even close to it. Neither does she do a lot of films and nor is she available to even her friends in the industry

Speculations: They say creative people have their idiosyncrasies; this might be one of them. Not exactly media savvy, Tabu likes to maintain distance from the industry post her shoots. Maybe she treats this as a regular job, but seeing more of Tabu would be nice. Also, being a non-mainstream actress can limit your horizons considerably. Tabu has always done powerful roles and those kinds aren't written everyday. But the truth of this industry remains, out of sight is out of mind.

Sushmita Sen

A lady in totality, Sushmita has been called a diva numerous times. Her demeanour and her personality spell class. Always the one who defied conventions and walked her own path, Sushmita Sen is one of a kind. She did the films she believed in rather than ones that came with big banners and stars. Which resulted in some films that did not do well at the box office but Sush's performance was always applauded, whether it was in Main Hoin Naa or in Do Knot Disturb. Last she was seen in Dulha Mil Gaya earlier this year, but it was a highly delayed film. So it can be safely stated that Sushmita has not signed any new film for a while now

Speculation: A lady who lives by her whims will only sign a project that gives her a role that she believes in. With another baby becoming part of the household, this mummy has to be busy. Plus didn't we hear that Sushmita wishes to direct and produce a period film that was eventually put on hold? Well maybe that's the project that's keeping this lady busy. Or maybe she enjoys doing social dos rather than films.

Urmila Matondkar

She started out being the "it" girl of Bollywood. The one with the body to die for and looks that oscillated from innocent to a seductress. Such was her teaming with RGV that no matter which film they did together, it would be a hit with the masses. Be it Rangeela, Daud, Satya or Bhoot. 2003 onwards Urmila started doing films that were considered as Art House Productions like Pinjar that was based on Indo-Pak partition, Tehzeeb and Bas Ek Pal. This was clearly a very low period in Urmila's life. Going forward one hardly saw any commendable performance from her. The kind of films she picked up was highly questionable like EMI, Banaras and of course the Karzzz remake.

Speculation: With Urmila's contemporaries making a comeback one does wonder what's keeping her away. Her mentor RGV is struggling to make a mark again and so is Urmila, there has to be some Karmic connection there. Unfortunately, with the actor's performance skills, her unwanted disappearance from films is a big waste. But with changing patterns in the Hindi Film industry, actors like Urmila will surely find a fitting role... that is if she doesn't mind doing second leads.

With time maybe these ladies have realised that this industry has a shelf life as far as the female actors go and while you're still ahead of the game, you might as well get going with your retirement plans.