A couple of years ago, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Preity Zinta were the ruling troika of queen bees in Bollywood.

Almost overnight, you have new favourites Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif being labelled as the soon-to-be queens, thanks to their box-office successes in recent months.

Rani, who’s had a bad innings last year ( Ta Ra Rum Pum and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag ), was tinseltown’s blue-eyed girl until her films crashed at the box-office. Rumours of her marriage to Aditya Chopra didn’t go down well with the audience either.
Close rival Preity seems to have shifted gear to meaningful films and has become a franchisee owner of IPL, giving her no time for films. The Bachchan bahu has wrapped up for Sarkar Raj co-starring hubby Abhishek, walked the red carpet in Cannes Film Festival again and is exploring fresher avenues in Hollywood.

In such a scenario, it is inevitable that filmmakers would move on to newer stars who can offer bulk dates, commitment and box-office guarantee as well. Unlike male superstars, women stars never had that kind of sway over ticket windows anyway. While married male superstars are welcome, attached women superstars are almost outcasts even in 21st century Mumbai tinseltown. Why do top female superstars have such a limited shelf life? Says filmmaker Sanjay Gadhvi, “Globally, a film is sold mainly because of the male actor.