Hollywood's XX factor

Looking at the list of actresses nominated at this year's Oscars, I can't help wonder at the immense array of talent that the English-language films put out. It's a fairly impressive generation of acting talent among the ladies. And we're not even talking about Meryl and her British counterparts, who are, if you pardon the pun, Streeps ahead of the rest.

Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Laura Linney, Julianne Moore, Jodie Foster, Toni Collete, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Hilary Swank, Jennifer Connelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Nicole Kidman (to an extent), Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, Kristin Scott Thomas - well, a long list, and lots more to go. Most of these have at least 2-3 roles of sheer class to showcase.

In sharp contrast is our own homegrown industries, which has traditionally given women such a bad deal that it is hurts. Of the current lot, one can only talk about the likes of Tabu and Nandita Das as being top-notch. There must be other excellent actresses coming out who aren't getting their due and attention. There are actresses like Meera Jasmine who hopefully are getting roles that they can shine in. But they do have to earn bread-butter in silly commercial vehicles. But what to do? - we prefer the assembly line dolls of beauty pageant positions from 1 to n instead.