The Indian marquees, meanwhile, are flush with girls with small roles and equally small clothes. Two of the three films that went off the marquees feature bimbettes.

Girls who in real life are career-minded are seen in bimbette parts in Priyadarshan's "Garam Masala" and David Dhawan's "Shaadi No.1." Kareena Kapoor and Rimi Sen got a better deal in Priyadarshan's other release - "Kyon Ki," starring Salman Khan.

A trade observer says: "The much-awaited festive week has begun, but there is no reason to be euphoric. Almost Rs.450 million are at stake but the initials of the three films have not too promising."

"Garam Masala" seems to be the best bet followed by "Shaadi No. 1" and "Kyon Ki."

Last year, the female-dominated film "Morning Raga" had hit the marquees during this week of November. Though its box-office failure was cited to declare that women-oriented films always turn out to be duds, the same talk is unlikely to be heard if Salman Khan's "Kyon Ki" does not perform.

Clearly, Bollywood only talks about women-oriented films that flop and conveniently glosses over the huge number of hero-centric ones that fail.

We are waiting for Sai Paranjpye, Aruna Raje, Kalpana Lajmi, and new entrants, Meghna Gulzar, Farah Khan and Revathy to make a mark - like Aparna Sen, Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Suma Josson have.