This year has been witness to some interesting choice of roles. Here's who impressed us with the most convincing performance

Considering the male-dominated nature of the industry, heroines are generally perceived as the glamour quotient in the movies.

Nonetheless, some actresses rise above this notion and the script, to deliver performances that deserve more than applause.

2011 has seen some notable performances from our leading ladies - Vidya Balan in the heroine-centric The Dirty Picture to Kareena Kapoor, who had more scope to show her acting skills in Bodyguard than her hero, Salman Khan.

In fact, Vidya hit it off at the beginning of the year with No One Killed Jessica, also featuring Rani Mukerji as a spitfire television reporter.

The Rajkumar Gupta directed film based on the Jessica Lall murder case is the only film in recent years that went on to become a hit despite releasing during the supposedly jinxed first week of January.


Rani Mukherji, Vidya on promotion spree

A month later, Priyanka Chopra donned seven looks to portray Susanna, who marries seven times at different stages of her life in Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf.

Although the screen adaptation of Ruskin Bond's book, Susanna's Seven Husbands didn't fare well commercially, it consolidated the National Award winner's position as an actress to reckon with.

One would otherwise wonder if a south Indian remake featuring Salman Khan would leave much meat for the heroine. In case of Bodyguard, Bebo made the most of it with her sincere performance as a damsel in distress who couldn't express her love, until the very end.


Kareena Kapoor

In Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, with three male leads, Katrina Kaif made the audience sit up and take note of her acting, apart from her sizzling chemistry with Duggu. If Kalki Koechlin didn't exactly deliver in ZNMD, she more than made up for it in hubby Anurag Kashyap's That Girl In Yellow Boots.


Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Cast

Sonam Kapoor (Mausam) and Anushka Sharma (Patiala House and Ladies vs Ricky Bahl) also made it to our list.


The nominations for the best actress in 2011:
Vidya Balan (The Dirty Picture, No One Killed Jessica)
Rani Mukerji (No One Killed Jessica)
Kareena Kapoor (Bodyguard, RA.One)
Priyanka Chopra (7 Khoon Maaf)
Katrina Kaif (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)
Sonam Kapoor (Mausam)
Kalki Koechlin (That Girl In Yellow Boots)
Anushka Sharma (Patiala House, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl)