10 Women With Supernatural Powers In The Movies

From superheroes and aliens to witches, ghosts and shape-shifting mutants, these 10 Bollywood female leads prove that supernatural powers come in all shades of mischief, menace and magic.IMAGE: Yami Gautam in Nayyi Navelli. Key PointsYami Gautams new film Nayyi Navelli features her as Mohini, a bride with supernatural powers, leading to her in-laws suspecting her of being a chudail.Bollywood has a rich history of female protagonists with supernatural powers, ranging from angels and aliens to witches and shape-shifters, often with diverse intentions.Recent films like Stree (Shraddha Kapoor) and Bhediya (Kriti Sanon) continue the trend, with characters like a mysterious inhuman hero and a nature-protecting werewolf.You may associate her most with the uber-serious R&AW agent in Uri: The Surgical Strike or the NIA officer in Article 370, for which she recently won the National Award for Best Actress.But give her something light-hearted to do, like the air-headed influencer in Bala or the bride with her own set of mysteries in Dhaam Dhoom, and Yami Gautam is bound to surprise you with how good she is at making you smile.With her new release Nayyi Navelli, she is raising spirits again, metaphorically and literally. She plays, once again, a bride with secrets, this time supernatural ones.The fantasy family entertainer, directed by Tamil filmmaker Balaji Mohan and produced by Aanand L Rai, features Yami as Mohini, a mystery woman who wants to vanquish the demon king Ravana, who has somehow managed to return to Earth. Her powers, however, make her in-laws believe she is a chudail.Nayyi Navelli, which also stars Addinath Kothare, Anurag Thakur, Mita Vashisht and Sushmita Mukherjee, releases in theatres on October 16.Before Yamis Mohini, Bollywood has given us quite a few female leads who love displaying their supernatural powers, albeit with a myriad of intentions. Some want to save their loved ones, some want to destroy the world, and some just want to have fun.Sreeju Sudhakaran looks back at 10 such female protagonists in Bollywood from this century, who won your heart or raised hell with their extraordinary powers, depending on their mood of the day. The Honeymooning Superhero: Minissha Lamba in Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (2007)IMAGE: Minissha Lamba and Abhay Deol in Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd.In Reema Kagtis slice-of-life dramedy about a honeymoon group tour, Minissha Lamba and Abhay Deol play the perfect couple.They are in complete sync with each other, from dancing and singing in unison to even swimming and feeding each other in a synchronised manner, leaving the other couples in awe or consumed by jealousy.Theres a reason for that.Both are superheroes, except neither knows that about the other. Even superheroes have their marital secrets.The Rediff Review The Babysitting Angel: Rani Mukerji in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008)IMAGE: Rani Mukerji and Saif Ali Khan in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic.Rani Mukerji plays the desi Nanny McPhee in Kunal Kohlis romantic entertainer. She is a fun-loving angel sent by God (Rishi Kapoor) to act as a nanny to four orphaned children in the care of a guilt-stricken industrialist.Basically, imagine if Juhi Chawla in Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke had magical powers.Since the nanny is quite pretty and the foster father is handsome, a love story is inevitable. It also forces the angel to confront her humanity (or lack thereof) towards the end to be with the man she loves.The Rediff Review The Love-Seeking Alien: Jacqueline Fernandez in Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai (2010)IMAGE: Vishal Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez in Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai.The former Miss Universe Sri Lanka, in her second Hindi film, played a gorgeous woman whose beauty was out of this world. Literally.In this romcom directed by Milap Zaveri, back when his movies did not make you cringe, she plays an alien searching for the perfect mate on Earth.Her search leads her to believe that a handsome Bollywood star might be the one. Even Brad Pitt was in contention except that he was married to Angelina Jolie at the time, ruling him out as an option.Never mind, she ends up settling for an average-looking, helpful clapboy, played by Riteish Deshmukh. Guess, even aliens cant escape the trap of Bollywood formula.The Rediff Review The Therapeutic Ghost: Kareena Kapoor Khan in Talaash: The Answer Lies Within (2012)IMAGE: Kareena Kapoor and Aamir Khan in Talaash: The Answer Lies Within.Friendly spirits are a dime a dozen in Bollywood, whether its Parineeti Chopra in Golmaal Again, Anushka Sharma in Phillauri or Katrina Kaif in Phone Bhoot. Kareena Kapoor in Reema Kagtis investigative thriller, however, stands apart.For one, we dont discover until the very end that she is supposed to be a ghost. Sorry for the spoilers, but a big boo to you for not watching the film by now. There is a revenge angle involving her aatmas mission.What makes her character stand out, though, is how this former sex worker uses her seductive flair to help Aamir Khans cop work through his emotional suppression and domestic troubles. Ghosts can be lovely therapists too.The Rediff Review The Child-Eating Witch: Konkona Sensharma in Ek Thi Daayan (2013)IMAGE: Konkona Sensharma in Ek Thi Daayan.Konkona Sensharma plays a witch from hell in Kannan Iyers highly underrated supernatural drama. She is the manifestation of a childs nightmares, or what cinema calls the evil stepmother, taken quite literally.The film keeps us guessing about her true nature, building suspense around the possibility that she might be more than she appears. When the shocking, but expected, revelation finally drops, it is a moment of pure horror, aided by Konkonas gleefully malevolent performance.Whats more, not even death seems to stop her, as she returns to haunt her escaped victim even his adulthood, changing her form and trap him in a fake relationship. The word Evil simply wont suffice the depravity of her efforts in the movie.The Rediff Review The Shape-Shifting Maanvar: Kangana Ranaut in Krrish 3 (2013)IMAGE: Hrithik Roshan and Kangana Ranaut in Krrish 3.What would happen if X-Mens Mystique transferred to a Bollywood film and ended up falling in love with the hero after trying to kill him?Meet Kaya, the creation of the evil genius Kaal (who is not Professor X, despite that wheelchair). She is a seductive shape-shifter sent to kill Krrish but falls in love with him instead, even though he has no interest in her.Trust me, I am still writing purely about the plot of the film and hinting at absolutely nothing beyond that (insert a Cheshire cat grin).The Rediff Review The Demon Child: Anushka Sharma in Pari (2018)IMAGE: Anushka Sharma in Pari.We have seen characters torment and kill people after being possessed by spirits. Anushka Sharmas character is tragically different.She is an aulad-e-ifrit, the unfortunate offspring born to a woman sexually assaulted by a demon. Chained away in the forest for most of her life, she is a victim of her circumstances, both before and after birth.She is immensely powerful, bloodthirsty, and capable of actions that are decidedly inhuman. But when exposed to care and love, her transformation is heartbreaking, particularly when her own child refuses to give her peace. Pari is easily one of the most tragic characters in an Indian horror film.The Rediff Review The Inhuman Saviour: Shraddha Kapoor in Stree (2018) and Stree 2 (2024)IMAGE: Shraddha Kapoor in Stree 2.We have seen two Stree movies by now and we still havent figured out exactly what Shraddha Kapoors unnamed characters deal is, which is exactly makes her tick.She looks human, is beautiful enough to win Vickys heart with just a Bicky, please... and has a kind heart, but she is definitely not a normal human being in any other sense.She is powerful enough to fight demonic entities, even more so when wielding the cut hair-braid of the ghost they call Stree. She can also disappear at will.By Stree 2, we learn that she is a centuries-old entity and Stree is actually her mother. We hope the upcoming Stree 3 clears away more of the cobwebbed mysteries surrounding her.The Rediff Review The Vigilante Chudail: Triptii Dimri in Bulbbul (2020)IMAGE: Triptii Dimri in Bulbbul.Like Anushka Sharma in Pari, Triptii Dimris titular character in Anvita Dutts Netflix film is a supernatural victim born out of the evil patriarchal system around her. A brutal sexual assault transforms something within her.Her anger towards the men in her life spills over to the evil men beyond the walls of her sprawling mansion, as she gains supernatural powers and kills those who abuse and assault the women in her village.Unfortunately, much like the protagonist in Pari, a tragic fate awaits her at the end of the movie. Not that her life had been any less unfortunate.The Rediff Review The Nature-Protecting Werewolf: Kriti Sanon in Bhediya (2022)IMAGE: Kriti Sanon and Varun Dhawan in Bhediya.Again, a huge annoying howl if you havent seen Bhediya yet, because this comes with a spoiler. Most of Amar Kaushiks second entry into the Stree universe (the one that actually establishes the shared universe) deals with Varun Dhawans struggle.He has to manage strange changes to his body and nature after transforming into a werewolf when he is bitten. It turns out that the wolf that bit him was actually the pretty vet treating his wounds, played by Kriti Sanon, with whom he had been getting romantically close.This wolf is also the guardian spirit of her forests, determined to take down those intent on destroying the surrounding ecosystem. Alas, despite the light-hearted nature of the movie, Bhediya closes with a tragic end to the furry love story between the biter and the bitten.While we are at it, a special mention also to Rashmika Mandannas good-hearted vampire in Thamma.The Rediff ReviewPhotographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff