Like Ronald Reagan who found his prime time audience only after he ended his acting career, Subhas Chandra Bose's nephew Ardhendu Bose has received more media attention today than he did three decades ago as a Hindi film actor.

In the 1980s, Ardhendu was known to all of us as the Bombay Dyeing model with the slightly Oriental features. Soon he was an aspiring actor, the Indian Bruce Lee. Long before Sanjay Dutt or Akshay Kumar, it was Ardhendu who was known for his martial moves but he couldn't kick up a storm with feeble films like Cobra . When the publisher of Stardust, Nari Hira, made a slew of video films under the label Hiba Films, it included a steamy project called Shingora that featured Persis Khambatta, Aditya Pancholi, Marc Zuber and Ardhendu. Persis passed away in 1998, Marc followed in 2003, Aditya and his son Sooraj frequently hit the headlines for matters not related to their acting while Ardhendu has become a businessman and has been in the news courtesy his uncle. As a Bose family member, Ardhendu has become a prime time face and will be one as long as the declassification of the Bose files remains on the front page. Fortunately, given his martial arts background, Ardhendu still looks fighting fit.

Also back in the arena but for vastly different reasons is former Miss Universe Lara Dutta. She's back as an actress although she has had to relinquish her position as a leading lady. It's strange how life turns out for people who start out around the same time. Lara and Priyanka Chopra won their beauty crowns the same year (PC was Miss World in 2000) and made their debut in the same film, Andaaz , opposite Akshay Kumar.

Today, although she is a fine actress, Lara played a character role in her first hero, Akshay Kumar's latest film Singh Is Bliing . She will be seen in Azhar, the biopic on Mohammad Azharuddin, but in the role of a lawyer which is once again a supporting role and not the romantic lead. She also has a part in Fitoor , Abhishek Kapoor's Indianised version of Great Expectations. But the heroine is Katrina Kaif, with Tabu also in the cast. It really means that Lara's run as leading lady is well and truly over.

On the other hand, look where her contemporary Priyanka Chopra stands today. PC grows from strength to strength, and from continent to continent, going by the impact she's making in the US in the TV show Quantico . Unlike Lara, PC dominates every project that she's part of and is far from being relegated to the category of character artiste.

It's been the same with Aishwarya Rai and Sushmita Sen too. They also won the Miss World and Miss Universe titles in the same year (1994). In fact Sushmita had won the Miss India crown that year, putting Aishwarya in the first runner-up spot. Aishwarya, the clear favourite, had been reduced to tears backstage when an unknown Sushmita had walked away with the coveted Miss India sash.

In Hindi films too, Sushmita was reputed to be the better actress and had an aura around her while Aishwarya struggled with failure for a long time. But what's the status in 2015? Aishwarya's Jazbaa may have been sheer blah but she's still a diva, she's still toplining a Karan Johar film titled Ae Dil Hai Mushkil along with Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma. In a striking contrast, peer hard at the horizon and you'll spot Sushmita on some TV channel as a judge.

This happened in the 1980s too. Sridevi and Jaya Prada were the two Telugu and Tamil spouting heroines from south India who vied for Jeetendra's attention in screechy masala outings like Majaal and Tohfa. Both terrific dancers, Sri was known more for her oomph while Jaya, with her perfect facial features, aspired to be another Jaya (Bhaduri) Bachchan. When her first film Sargam was on release, Jaya Prada had made it a point to mention that she'd rather follow in Jaya Bhaduri's footsteps as an actress than be known as another south Indian dancing star like Hema Malini.

The tables have turned today. Despite their respective images when they started out, it is Sridevi who has outlasted Jaya and moved beyond her sensuality. It is Sri who made an impact as an actress who was willing to go without make-up in English Vinglish . Even if her latest film Puli (meaning tiger in Telugu) failed to roar at the box office and she was mentioned more for her contact lenses and her flowing Manish Malhotra gowns than for her performance, Sridevi is still a star. Sri is a bigger commercial name today than Jaya Prada who is unfortunately known more as Amar Singh's companion than as a saleable actress.

In fact, if Amar Singh returns to the Samajwadi Party today, you know the lamb will follow suit.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author