Bollywood movies are not all song and dance when it comes to the portrayal of women. In the midst of directors who still consider actresses as mannequins and item girls to increase Box Office ratings, there are a select few who believe in meaningful cinema and have successfully rolled out marvels which show women in powerful roles. Here are 18 such movies which celebrate being a women and must be on your to-watch list:

3. Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam

Meena Kumari's portrayal of Chhoti Bahu is still considered one of the best performances Bollywood has ever seen. She beautifully brings the role of a suffering wife who takes to alcohol to please her philandering husband on screen. Both a commercial as well as critical success, Kumari pulls off her character to perfection!

4. Bandini

Nutan created a history of sorts with the effortless depiction of Kalyani's role. She plays a character who is serving life sentence for murder and her portrayal of someone torn between conflicts of love and hate is just too realistic.