Actresses Roundtable: Beautiful leading ladies of 2013

In an industry where men still get the best roles, a handful of women are rewriting the rules seeking out, layered, well rounded characters even in popular mainstream movies.

In 2013, Deepika Padukone went from the easily likeable Naina Talwar in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani to the whacky daughter of a Tamilian mob boss in Chennai Express and then topped the year with a feisty performance in Ram-Leela. Kangna Ranaut played a shape shifting evil mutant in Krrish 3 bringing just the right measure of vulnerability to the part. In Ghanchakkar, Vidya Balan sportingly was the shrill sartorially challenged housewife who must open her home to a pair of gangsters.Nimrat Kaur brought powerful poignancy to the role of neglected housewife who begins a tentative relationship over handwritten notes in the Lunchbox. The four leading ladies behind the most significant performances in 2013 sat dow21:26:39 to share their experiences on everything from botched auditions to over caring co-stars at the actresses’ roundtable.