Sharmila Tagore
Kareena Kapoor might have melted down to size zero in Tashan but it was beau Saif Ali Khan's ammi who first sizzled on the Indian screen in an itsy bitsy bikini. Sharmila Tagore thrilled audiences with her two-piece act in Shakti Samanta's An Evening in Paris.
Devika Rani
First lady of Indian cinema is recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. A student of London's Royal Academy of drama and music. Heroine of the 1930s, yet way ahead of her times. Shocked prudes with the first ever lip lock on screen in the 1933-film Karma. The kiss ran a record four minutes. Devika Rani's most valuable discovery was Dilip Kumar.She was given full state honours on her death in 1994.
Fatma Begum
Bollywood's first lady director entered the film world with her debut in Veer Abhimanyu (1922).Within four years,she went on to write,produce and direct films. Fatma worked with filmmakers like Ardeshir Irani and Nanubhai Desai before founding her own production company Fatma Films which was later rechristened as Victoria-Fatma Films. She launched her own production house Fatma Films, and directed Bulbul-e-Paristan in 1926.
Zubeida
Fatima Begum's daughter Zubeida was India's first talkie actress. She played the female lead in India's first talkie - Alam Ara. Her box-office bonanzas jingled cash counters and Zubeida was the highest paid actor of her times. Rani Zubeida, who broke all traditions of her Muslim household and acted in movies and later married a Rajput royal for love.
Usha Khanna
Bollywood's only established female music director, although Bibbo was the first female music director of Indian Cinema. At the age of 16, she composed her own songs without being formally trained in music. Khanna made a grand debut in 1959 with Dil Deke Dekho.The industry was so closed to the idea of a woman composing music that most believed someone else was actually composing music under her name.
Tun Tun
Christened Tun Tun by Dilip Kumar, India's first female comedian's mere presence on screen was enough to set off a laugh riot.While other actresses starved themselves,Tun Tun (born Uma Devi) constantly ate from her dabbaon the sets,claiming she had to maintain her weight.Her childhood dream to sing for Naushad came true with Afsaana likh rahi hoon.
Fearless Nadia
Mary Ann Evans was also know as "Fearless Nadia" is the first stunt women Hindi cinema. She grew up near Peshawar where she learned to ride horses. After her father was killed in France during WWI, she and her mother moved back to Bombay. She mastered the art of cartwheels and splits, which came in handy later during her film stunts. One of her most famous scenes had her fighting the bad guys on top of a speeding train! She was often showed working out in a gym, which apparently contributed to a fitness craze at the time as well.
Persis Khambatta
Khambatta was the first citizen of India to present an Academy Award and remains the only Indian to do so. She was best known for her role as Lieutenant Ilia in the 1979 feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture. She had won the Femina Miss India contest in 1965. She was the second winner of Femina Miss India and third Indian woman to participate in the Miss Universe pageant.
Bhanu Athaiya
Bhanu Athaiya was the first female Indian to win an Academy Award in 1983, for designing the costumes for Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. Athaiya started her career as a freelance fashion illustrator for various women's magazines in Bombay. She made her debut as a film costume designer with the film C.I.D. in 1956.
Suchitra Sen
Actress Suchitra Sen was the first Indian actress to be bestowed with an award in an international film festival. Actress Suchitra Sen was the first Indian actress to be bestowed with an award in an international film festival. Suchitra Sen made her debut in films with Shesh Kothaay in 1952, but it was never released. She received a Best Actress Award nomination for the film Devdas (1955), which was her first Hindi movie.
