Meet The Haseen Dilrubas Of Bollywood

Full of seduction and schemes, she'll use her sultry charms and slinky moves to trap and trick her fall guy until he's putty in her hands.

Call her femme fatale, man-eater, gold-digger or temptress, morality be damned so long as she gets her way.

Continuing this tradition, Taapsee Pannu's twisted take on feminism in Haseen Dillruba's messy, perverse love story is ready to unleash a brand new dose of her siren song in its sequel, Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba.

Sukanya Verma takes a look at other haseen dilrubas of note.

Bipasha Basu, Jism

A super attractive woman married to a man of means lures a hot hunk into doing her dirty work until he realises money is all she cares about in Bipasha Basu's smoking hot turn as the face of seduction.

 

Katrina Kaif, Race

Amidst Abbas-Mustan's umpteen twists, Race's glossy, irrational thriller gets its kicks from showcasing doe-eye Katrina's unexpected transformation from devoted secretary to wicked siren dancing to the tune of money, money, money.

 

Huma Qureshi, Monica, O My Darling

Love, sex, dhoka form the catchphrases of Huma Qureshi's devilish turn as the titular heroine burning the screen as well as blackmailing the folks occupying it with scorching gusto.

 

Vidya Balan, Dedh Ishqiya

By hook or crook is Vidya Balan's mantra as she bats eyes at a pair of partners as distinct as cheese and chalk with ulterior motives and revenge on her mind.

 

Mahi Gill, Sahib Biwi Aur Gangster

Sex becomes both her need and weapon, proving she can be as wily as the self-absorbed royal she's married to when the fling she's using to her advantage becomes too big for his boots.

 

Priyanka Chopra, Aitraaz

Fuelled by desire, ambition and libido, this foxy social-climber doesn't handle rejection too well. Akshay Kumar finds out the hard way after he rejects Priyanka Chopra's advances in Aitraaz.

 

Kareena Kapoor, Fida

The makers hoped audience would be thrilled to watch Kareena back stab Shahid Kapoor, a real-life couple back then, for Fardeen Khan as the conniving, criminal-minded vamp of Fida. They were wrong.

  

Simi Garewal, Karz

The original Haseena.

Simi's dramatic betrayal, wherein she bumps off her brand new husband for the sake of money and power ensuing in the man's rebirth from Raj Kiran to Rishi Kapoor, is still the gold standard in devil woman.

 

Parveen Babi, Namak Halal

Though she realises the folly of her ways towards the end, a good chunk of Namak Halal is Parveen Babi sashaying in sexy numbers and sexier moves to entice or erase poor little rich boy Shashi Kapoor from the picture.

 

Helen, Don

It's only fair Helen would want to hurt Amitabh Bachchan who killed her boyfriend a few reels before. Except her smouldering seduction cabaret in a tantalising outfit and extra catty contact lenses makes her retribution look a lot more hot than hurtful.

 

Mumtaz, Mere Sanam

Slipping into temptress mode to tarnish hero's image and receive moolah from the bad guy only to double cross bad guy and snitch to the hero for more moolah, Mumtaz's brand of greed and gorgeousness ensue in quite a heady combo in Mere Sanam.