Take a bow, Nayanthara, Radhika Prasidhha, Aishwarya Rajesh, Jyothika and Nithya Menen!

There is little effort put into a women's role in Tamil cinema and very few actresses prove themselves in this biased industry.

Maya and 36 Vayadhinile were the only women-centric films this year.

We take a look at the five heroines of 2015, who won people's hearts with their amazing performances.

 

Nayanthara

Nayanthara has become synonymous with success. 

The talented actress had seven releases -- five in Tamil and two in Malayalam -- and all of them have become box office hits.

Her performances in Maya and Naanum Rowdy Dhaan especially stand out.

Her performance as a single mother in Maya, struggling to make ends meet, was as endearing as her vulnerability as a deaf woman seeking to avenge her father's death in director Naanum Rowdy Dhan.

 

Radhika Prasidhha

Theater artiste Radhika Prasidhha made a sensational debut in National award-winning film Kuttram Kadithal.

It was a complicated role and the newcomer was brilliant as a young teacher tormented by the guilt and grief of having slapped her student, who ends up in a coma. 

 

Aishwarya Rajesh

Aishwarya Rajesh, 25, was the biggest surprise of debutant director M Manikandan's Kaaka Muttai.

The actress gave a remarkable performance as a slum dweller and mother of two children struggling to put food on the table while trying to get her husband out of jail.

It was a role that had neither glamour nor substantial screen presence but the young actress took on the challenge and won much appreciation.

 

Jyothika

After a seven-year hiatus, one of the most celebrated actresses of Tamil cinema Jyothika made a spectacular comeback with Rosshan Andrrews's 36 Vayadhinile.

The versatile actress just breezed through her role as an ignored and unappreciated married woman struggling to regain her identity.

 

Nithya Menen

Malayalam actress Nithya Menen had two successful Tamil releases this year: Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani and Raghava Lawrence's Kanchana 2.

Her performance as a fun-loving, independent girl in the romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani was a sharp contrast to her act in the horror comedy Kanchana 2, where she played a physically challenged woman with a pronounced limp.