SOPHIA LOREN

Now considered one of the most beautiful women to have graced the big screen, Sophia Loren was a gauche Italian girl, just 16, when she starred in her first film, Cuori Sul Mare. A striking brunette in a sea of blondes, Loren, the star of films like Two Women and El Cid, stood out for her olive skin, almond-shaped eyes and sharp features. “I have never been beautiful… I’ve never been a beautiful doll. People thought my mouth was too big, they wanted me to make my nose shorter, to have straighter teeth,” Loren, now 79, said at Cannes. The Oscar winner stuck to her guns, her “different” looks eventually paving the way to a stardom that saw her at the top of her game for close to three decades. As the grandmother of four now says: “Beauty is not important. You have to be interesting, someone who is different to other people.”

meryl streep

In 2010, Sharon Stone had referred to Meryl Streep as an “unmade bed” in what she later claimed was a backhanded compliment to Streep’s relatability with the ordinary woman. “I look at her and I think, ‘I’m chasing my kids, I’ve moved my parents in with me, I’m coping with food spills — that looks like me in real life’. Meryl looks like an unmade bed, and that’s what I look like. To me, that looks true,” the screen siren was famously quoted as saying. Stone has been the quintessential Holly hottie, while Streep, with her thin lips and limp hair, has hardly been the doll or the dynamite. What matters, however: 64-year-old Streep has three Oscars from a whopping 18 nominations and is widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses ever. Stone, 56, hasn’t quite managed to make us see beyond those legs in Basic Instinct.

julia roberts

“Julia Roberts is very big-mouthed. Literally, physically, she has a very big mouth,” was Hugh Grant’s not-so-complimentary observation of his Notting Hill co-star on The Oprah Winfrey Show a few years ago. Though that mouth is quite a distraction on screen, most would agree that her smile is what defines Julia Roberts. Never a conventional beauty, it is the 46-year-old’s expressive face and winner smile that have made her the pretty woman that we have come to love in so many films — Pretty Woman to Erin Brockovich, My Best Friend’s Wedding to Closer.

sandra bullock

In January, Sandra Bullock revealed in an interview why she hasn’t Googled herself after one initial attempt. Reason? “‘She’s not particularly attractive,’ is a search term related to my name that came up very frequently,” chuckled the Speed star. Bullock, now 49, has features of the average girl-next-door, with her nose — a strange mix of stubby and pointy — being her most distinguishing feature. But that hasn’t stopped the Oscar winner with (still) one of the best bodies in the business from being one of the most successful actresses of the time. No one could have played Ryan Stone in Gravity better.

jennifer lawrence

She’s goofy, she’s unpretentious, she’s fun. She’s different. Make that unique. Jennifer Lawrence, Hollywood’s new darling, is just like any other 23-year-old. Refreshingly real, JLaw doesn’t care much for her looks — she’s often been spotted on the boulevards of Los Angeles running around in her tracksuit and without any make-up. And she’s that one rare actress who confesses that she doesn’t bother about her weight (“Eating is my favourite part of the day,” is a quotable quote from the Silver Linings Playbook star). Few know that she didn’t make it past the audition for Twilight because the makers found Kristen Stewart “prettier”. Today, with an Oscar to her name and a promising future ahead, Jennifer is having the last laugh. And did you hear about that 30-year-old Texas woman who splurged $25,000 on plastic surgery to look like Lawrence?

cate blanchett

The mother of three is one of the most talented actresses Hollywood has seen in recent times. But Blanchett, with her ashen complexion and near-bulbous nose, is nowhere close to a classic Hollywood beauty. The 45-year-old Australian actress has confessed to “dealing” with her “different looks” even before films happened. “It was desperately uncool to be pale,” says Blanchett of her teenage years. “I used to cover myself in baby oil and lie on the tin roof.” Her unconventional looks even saw her being dropped from her initial few films. Today, Blanchett has two Oscars to her name and a filmography that boasts big tickets like Elizabeth and The Lord of the Rings films. And yes, she’s played Bob Dylan too (in I’m Not There)!

vidya balan

She struggled for years and faced many rejections before landing her first film. As Lolita in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta, Vidya Balan’s typically Indian features came in as a breath of fresh air in a Bollywood increasingly aping the West. Through the years, Vidya has refused to toe the Bolly line — in her choice of films or fashion. Possibly the only actress who can sell a film solely on her own name, Vidya’s full figure and yo-yoing weight is also “real” in a sea of Botoxed bodies. You go, girl!

kajol

She breezed into Bollywood in the early ’90s with her debut film Bekhudi and showed us that a star had arrived. Kajol’s spunk, both on screen and off, was matched by the nonchalant attitude she had towards her looks. Olive-skinned and not too particular about her wardrobe, Kajol even refused to pluck her eyebrows! A welcome change in an assembly line of similar-looking Bolly beauties, Kajol is counted as one of the most promising actresses Bollywood has ever seen, with some of the biggest blockbusters to her credit — Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. No “china doll”, this.

RANI MUKERJI

Kajol’s cousin had to struggle quite a bit before she landed her first film Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat. Reason? Her girl-next-door looks and that rough-edged voice, something that Bollywood, fed on stereotypes, wasn’t very welcoming of. Within a few years, Rani Mukerji became one of the most sought-after actresses, a favourite of the three Khans and the first choice for directors when it came to roles with a challenge — Black to Hum Tum, Veer-Zaara to No One Killed Jessica.

kangana ranaut

Eight years ago, a young girl from Himachal Pradesh made a place in our hearts as a young woman looking for love in Anurag Basu’s Gangster. Tall and striking, Kangana’s unconventional looks and frizzy locks made her stand out among her contemporaries. Her subsequent choice of films — psychotic women constantly on the edge — was also off the beaten track. Over the years, Kangana has learnt to use her “different” looks, her bullseye style sense ensuring she’s a constant fixture in fashion glossies. Today, with a winning act in Queen to her name, Kangana is on the wish-list of every Bolly filmmaker. And yes, Aamir Khan finds her “very sexy”.

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