Among the heroines, Vyjayanthimala, a great dancer and a fairly accomplished actress, who had made a modest debut in Bahar (1948), a remake of a Tamil blockbuster, rose to be numero uno with her glamorous presence in a number of hits. She made a successful ‘fun’ pair with Kishore Kumar, her co-star in Bahar, in films like Asha and New Delhi. She was equally at home with Dilip Kumar (Devdas, Madhumati, Naya Daur), Raj Kapoor (Nazrana-1961), Dev Anand (Amardeep-1958) and second-rung heroes like Rajendra Kumar and Pradeep Kumar (Ek Jhalak-1957). Nargis was another major star, though she did most of her films opposite Dilip Kumar in the early stages (Babul-1950, Deedar-1951, Hulchal-1951) and Raj Kapoor (Awara, Shri 420, Chori Chori) in the later stages. Her greatest triumph came with Mehboob Khan’s Mother India (1957), which immortalized her. When she won the Best Actress award for Mother India at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, she became the first Indian actress to be honoured internationally.

Nutan, a newcomer, made a huge impact with a series of brilliantly nuanced performances in films like Sujata (1959), Bandini (1963) and Seema (1955). She was equally impressive in light-hearted romantic capers like Paying Guest (1957), Baarish (in both she made a winsome pair with Dev Anand-1957) and Dilli Ka Thug (opposite Kishore Kumar-1958). Another talented newcomer, Waheeda Rehman, made an impressive debut in a vamp’s role in CID (1956), produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Raj Khosla. Ironically, she outclassed the heroine Shakila with her gorgeous looks and controlled performance. Guru Dutt, who had a soft corner for her, gave her a better role in Pyaasa (1957). Waheeda grabbed the opportunity to come up with a great performance, again outclassing her co-star, this time Mala Sinha.

Meena Kumari, who had been stuck with mythological films, hit the big time with the musical, Baiju Bawra (1952), by winning the inaugural Filmfare Best Actress Award (then known as Clare Awards), was the other big-time achiever of the decade. She was hailed as the ‘tragedy queen’ for the number of doomed characters she kept playing. Madhubala, who made an intensely romantic pair with Dilip Kumar (Tarana-1951, Sangdil-1952, Amar-1954) and a flamboyant one with Dev Anand (KalaPani-1958, Nirala-1950), teamed equally well with Kishore Kumar in outstanding comedies like Half Ticket (1962) and Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958). The unsung heroine of the decade was Geeta Bali, one of the all-time great actresses. An effortless performer, Geeta first made her presence felt in Bawre Nain (1950), opposite Raj Kapoor. She made a sprightly team with Dev Anand (Baazi-1951, Jaal-1952, Milap-1955, Farar-1955, Pocketmar-1956). Her undoing was the failure of most of her films at the box-office, barring a few like Baazi (1951), which turned around Navketan at a difficult juncture, and Albela, a raging musical hit, co-staring comedian Bhagwan. She fell in love with Shammi Kapoor during the filming of Rangeen Raatein and married him in 1955 and move out of the limelight