Readers' Choice: Best Actresses of 2009

It's been a good year for our girls. They've gotten to play doctors, supermodels, both at once, astrological stereotypes, teachers, filmmakers, actresses, vamps, Indian Idol aspirants -- and all this aside from classic roles like the professor's daughter and the gangster's sister.

We asked you, dear reader, to pick the year's finest female performers, and you've done a smashing job, as usual. Here's a look at your five favourite actresses of 2009:

5. Mahie Gill in Dev D

Gill's Paro is the life of Anurag Kashyap's Dev D. The actress shines as she borrows Dev's (played by Abhay Deol) joint, sends him raunchy pictures across the internet and cycles with a mattress to the fields in order to set up a rendezvous. A dramatic, strong performance by a new actress worthy of celebration.

So far Katrina's been looked on as a pretty face -- okay, an incredibly, staggeringly pretty face -- but mostly just a prop.

All that changed with Kabir Khan's New York, a film about 9/11 that demanded Katrina deliver high emotion and great vulnerability. And the actress certainly clicked.

As far as performances go, Kapoor can be called the best thing in Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots, her Piya is believable while being both chirpy and concerned, naughty and nice.

Oh, and she totally rocked that pair of glasses.

Balki's Paa might have been advertised as a son-father-father-son story.

But Vidya Balan, who plays Amitabh Bachchan's mother in the film, has to be lauded for bringing credibility to the role of a strict and caring single mother and a committed gynaecologist. It is her character that grounds the film.

And then there's Bhope Bhau's sister Sweety. Priyanka Chopra fakes a stutter, drunkenly straddles Shahid Kapoor, finds out she's pregnant and that's what really kick off Vishal Bhardwaj's rollicking Kaminey.

This is one gangster's sister who knows what she wants, even if it's not good for her. And the lies? Well, at least her motives always ring true. Or so she claims.