Raveena Tandon In 'Aranyak' To Radhika Apte In 'Forensic', Actresses Who Aced The Cop Role On OTT

Filmmakers and storytellers are consciously telling more women centric stories where she is not just a prop. This change is more visible on OTT than on the big screen but it’s a welcoming change.

New Delhi: Strong, sensible, intelligent women are all around us—we know them, we are them. But that's not how they've often been portrayed in film and television with the stereotypical damsel in distress showing up more often than we'd like. Fortunately, that's changing. Filmmakers and storytellers are consciously telling more women centric stories where she is not just a prop. This change is more visible on OTT than on the big screen but it’s a welcoming change and one character we have seen female actors play with much elan is that of a law enforcer.

Here are 5 strong and powerful female cops seen on OTT.

Radhika Apte – Forensic

Forensic, a psychological thriller starring Vikrant Massey and Radhika Apte in the lead roles, premiered most recently on ZEE5. The movie is an adaptation of a Malayalam film of the same name. Helmed by Vishal Furia, the film also stars Prachi Desai, Vindu Dara Singh and Rohit Roy. Radhika Apte is seen as a female police officer in the small hill town of Mussoorie where she along with forensic officer, Johnny Khanna solves the mystery around the birthday killer. Radhika Apte as usual channels the rawness inside her to play a fierce cop Megha Sharma and delivers a fine performance.

Shefali Shah – Delhi Crime

Inspired by real events, Shefali Shah plays a tough Delhi police officer chasing down a rape incident. Inspired by the Nirbhaya rape case, Shah’s nuanced performance as Chaturvedi earned the show an International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series, the first Indian show to win the honour. It is one of Shefali Shah’s best performance till date.

Raveena Tandon – Aranyak

Unlike ever seen before, Raveena Tandon made her digital debut with Netflix with 'Aranyak', a murder mystery set in some of the most picturesque locations in India leaving us with questions at the end of every episode. Raveena played a cop named Kasturi Dogra who is outspoken, bold, and a pure badass. Raveena was not only called out for her great performance as a cop but also the display of her maternal instincts and the wife of any Indian household who juggles multiple things simultaneously.

Prachi Desai – Silence.. Can You Hear It?

Inspector Sanjana Bhatia, played by Prachi Desai, is bright, funny, and loves a challenge. She along with ACP Avinash Verma, played by Manoj Bajpayee, tries to investigate the unexplained death of a high-profile victim who happens to be the daughter of a retired justice. Prachi is like a breath of fresh air in the series as one doesn’t get to see her often on-screen.

 
Lara Dutta – Hundred

Hundred is an action-comedy series directed by Ruchi Narain, Ashutosh Shah, and Taher Shabbir that is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. It stars Lara Dutta and Rinku Rajguru in key roles. Dutta plays a cop who hires Netra (Rinku Rajguru) as an undercover cop. Netra Patil (Rinku Rajguru) learns that she has only a hundred days left to live because of her terminal illness and later on, meets ambitious ACP Saumya Shukla (Lara Dutta) and becomes an undercover agent. The pair attempts to complete their goal in the next hundred days. The actors manage to take the viewers on an emotional roller coaster ride with lots of action subtle humour.