Raveena Tandon, Karisma Kapoor, Malaika Arora and Madhuri Dixit are going to be mums in 2005. But for once filmmakers aren't biting their nails.

The to-be moms, super-professionals all of them, are making sure that none of their assignments clashes with their maternity leave. In fact it's unlikely that Raveena, Karisma or even Madhuri would want to pursue their careers after motherhood.

It's the second time for Madhuri. And she's got her priorities worked out crystal clear.

Just before the stork paid her a second visit, Madhuri was all set to sign on the dotted line with Zoya Akhtar, Somnath Sen and Rituparno Ghosh.

But once she got pregnant, Madhuri didn't hesitate in letting them all go for the sake of motherly bliss.

How unlike the past when married heroines made every effort to hide their pregnancy until it couldn't be concealed any longer, creating panic among producers who didn't know how to fob off the visibly increasing girth on screen.

Pregnancies had to be written into screenplays to accommodate the changed status in a heroine's life. Smita Patil kept working till the very last days of her pregnancy. She died soon after childbirth.

No wonder filmmakers in the past were petrified of pregnant heroines.

Once, Manmohan Desai was shooting his most ambitious film, "Ganga Jumna Saraswati" where Jaya Prada was one of the protagonists. The actress had just gone on record to declare she was indeed married.

Manmohan Desai was scared. "Damn, I hope she doesn't get pregnant. I wish I had added a clause to that effect in the contract."

For years it was believed that matrimony and motherhood spelt the end of an actress' career. Sharmila Tagore almost broke that belief. The most fruitful innings in her career started after marriage and motherhood with "Aradhana". Her colleagues still remember her son, Saif Ali Khan, running around on the sets of her most famous films.

Earlier there was the effervescent Nutan. She had called it quits after marriage. But after Mohnish was born she was coaxed back to do her most memorable role in Bimal Roy's "Bandini".

But these two actresses couldn't break the matrimonial and motherly mould in movies.

Producers would still run scared the minute an actress got married. No wonder the bright Kajol preferred to quit after motherhood. Recently Kajol was all but cajoled by Karan Johar to be part of his next directorial venture.

But since Johar's film required her to be out of the country for a longish period, Kajol has said thanks but no thanks.

"Today's heroines know they're here for a specific time span. Unlike their counterparts in the past who clung to their stardom - fading or otherwise - for as long as they could, and then some more, today's girls are very practical about their careers. They know when to quit, while they're still ahead," opines filmmaker Arjun Sablok.

Twinkle Khanna married Akshay Kumar and said adieu to a movie career. Today she's happy being wife to Akshay and mom to two-year-old Aarav.

Twinkle looks on with a faraway look and a slight smile. "I was very clear about my priorities. My career never mattered that much. To be very frank I was bored of acting. Quitting in spite of being fairly successful was no big deal.

"I had seen my mom (Dimple Kapadia) set a very promising career aside to look after me and my sister. And why just mom? Didn't Jaya aunty (Bachchan) give up a very bright career to be a wife and bring up Shweta and Abhishek?"

As Raveena and Karisma prepare to take on the maternal mantle, some uncanny similarities emerge in their marital status. Both are married to divorcees and both the actresses are ready to become mothers at about the same time.

Neither actress has made an official statement about quitting movies. But that might just be the case. Raveena, in fact, had a spate of releases in the last two months. She isn't signing anything new.

Karisma's last film for now is the long-delayed "Mere Jeevan Saathi". There are no new assignments on the anvil.

Many industry girls, including Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta have made it clear that they plan to become wives and moms before the next five years. And all three plan to quit.

"I can't be an actress and a mother at the same time," declares Bipasha.