10 Bollywood female spies to remember

Bollywood, however, has a long and rich tradition of brave female spies.

A look at 10 of those.

Naam Shabana (2017): Taapsee Pannu plays an Indian agent, trained in martial arts, helping nab an international arms dealer in the Shivam Nair film. A prequel to 2015 hit Baby, it made Rs36 crore at the box office
Force 2 (2016): Sonakshi Sinha, an Indian intelligence agent, teams up with police officer John Abraham, in the Abhinay Deo directed spy thriller. It made Rs31 crore at the box office.

D-Day (2013): Huma Qureshi is part of the RAW mission to nab an international criminal in the Nikhil Advani directed film. Featuring an ensemble cast that included Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Irrfan Khan and Shruti Haasan, it earned Rs18 crore at the box office.

Agent Vinod (2012): Kareena Kapoor plays an ISI agent in the Sriram Raghavan directed film. The Saif Ali Khan-starrer earned Rs43 crore at the box office.
Kahaani (2012): In Sujoy Ghosh’s mystery thriller, Vidya Balan pretends to be a pregnant woman, searching for her husband, but actually involved in a covert operation. The film made Rs57 crore in box office collections.

Ek Tha Tiger (2012): Katrina Kaif plays a Pakistani spy who falls in love with an Indian RAW agent during an investigation in Dublin, after which they decide to elope. The Salman Khan film directed by Kabir Khan made Rs186 crore in box office collections.

The Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003): Having fallen in love with a RAW agent, Preity Zinta, a Kashmiri girl, signs up for a spying assignment in Pakistan in the Anil Sharma directed film. The Sunny Deol-starrer made Rs26 crore at the box office.

Hindustan Ki Kasam: Priya Rajvansh helps her fiancé played by Raaj Kumar to locate a Pakistani radar system in the film set during the 1971 war. The action drama was directed by Chetan Anand.
Ankhen (1968): In what is considered the pioneer of Hindi spy films, Mala Sinha teams up with Dharmendra to fight the Chinese, in a mission that takes place in Beirut. Legend has it that director Ramanand Sagar roped in Sinha, an established name, to raise the financial viability of the project since the male lead was relatively new then

Khilari (1968): Fearless Nadia played Madame X1, a brave spy fighting a Chinese gang to rescue a kidnapped scientist. The film was directed by her husband and long-time collaborator Homi Wadia.