Women have been an integral part of the Indian film industry since its inception a century ago. Barring a few exceptions, their major contribution has been as actors or singers. On International Women's Day, March 8, we list the women who have dared to step into uncharted territory in recent times. They have not only carved a niche for themselves but are pioneering a new trend that will perhaps encourage others to follow suit.

Here they are:

Sneha Khanwalkar (music composer): If fields of cinematography and editing have a few names of note, music composition is one field which is still not opted for by the female brigade. Among the current crop, Sneha is the only one who has made it big. If she hit the bull's eye with "Gangs Of Wasseypur", she was equally impressive in "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!" and 2010 release "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha".

Deepa Bhatia (editor): Wife of filmmaker Amole Gupte, Deepa Bhatia is known as one of finest editors who gave final shape to critically acclaimed film "Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara" as well as hits like "Rock On!" and "Taare Zameen Par".

Aarti Bajaj (editor): She made her Bollywood debut as an editor with "Black Friday" and followed it up with successful romantic comedies like "Honeymoon Travels Pvt.Ltd", "Jab We Met" and "Love Aaj Kal". Her oeuvre also includes "Paan Singh Tomar", "Rockstar" and "Ishaqzaade".

Savita Singh (cinematographer): The Indian film industry has a few women cinematographers and Savita Singh is one of them. The woman behind movies like "Jalpari: The Dessert Mermaid", "Kismet Love Paisa Dilli" and "Phoonk", Savita is one of the most dependable names in the industry. An alumnus of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India, she feels no stream is male-dominated.


Namrata Rao (editor): An IT student, she decided to pursue her passion for filmmaking as an editor and made her debut with 2008 movie, "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!", a hit.

Later she edited movies like "Ishqiya", "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha", "Band Baaja Baaraat" and "Shanghai". She also showed her creativity on the editing table while cutting and trimming hits like "Ladies vs Ricky Bahl", and "Jab Tak Hai Jaan". Rao has two Filmfare awards in her kitty for "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha" and "Kahaani".

Bhavya (cinematographer): One more name that has entered the field of cinematography is Bhavya. She did the cinematography for Pooja Bhatt's directorial project "Jism 2".

M.M. Srilekha (music composer): Down south, M.M. Srilekha has found a firm foothold in the male-dominated bastion. Sister of renowned music composer M.M. Keeravani a.k.a M.M. Kreem, she made her debut as a composer at the tender age of 12 with Telugu film "Nannagaru". Since then she has composed music for over 45 Telugu films, including "Taj Mahal", "Dharma Chakram", "Adirindayya Chandram" and "Tata Birla Madhyalo Laila