The Zee Cine Award for Best Actor – Female is chosen by the viewers of Zee Entertainment Enterprises as part of its annual award ceremony for Hindi films, to recognise a female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. Following its inception in 1998, the ceremony was not held in 2009 and 2010, but resumed in 2011."Zee Cine Awards 2012 to be held in Macau" (ZeeNews, 23 November 2011) The ceremony was again cancelled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it resumed in 2023.
Superlatives Superlative Actress Record Actress with most awardsAlia Bhatt 4 Actress with most consecutive wins Alia Bhatt (2018–2020; 2023) Actress with most consecutive nominations Alia Bhatt (2017–2020; 2023–2024) 8 Actress with most nominationsDeepika Padukone 11 Actress with most nominations without ever winning Karisma Kapoor 6Actress with most nominations in a single year Kajol (1999); Deepika Padukone (2014) 3 Eldest Winner Shraddha Kapoor (2025) 38 years Youngest Winner Aneet Padda (2026) 23 years Eldest Nominee Hema Malini (2004) 55 years Youngest Nominee Zaira Wasim (2018) 17 years
Alia Bhatt is the most awarded actress in this category with four wins, followed by Tabu, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan and Deepika Padukone, who each have two wins. Alia Bhatt is the actress with the most consecutive wins with four, followed by Tabu, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan, and Deepika Padukone who each have two consecutive wins. Deepika Padukone is the actress with the most nominations in this category, with eleven, followed by Kajol with nine, and Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rani Mukerji, and Alia Bhatt with eight nominations each. The actress with the most consecutive nominations is Alia Bhatt, who received nominations for six consecutive years. Kajol and Deepika Padukone are the actresses who received the most nominations in a single year, with both being nominated for three films in a single year. Karisma Kapoor received the most nominations in this category without ever winning, with six, followed by Kriti Sanon with five and Preity Zinta and Katrina Kaif with four nominations each. Shraddha Kapoor, who won the award at the age of 38, is the eldest winner, while Hema Malini became the eldest nominee at the age of 55. Aneet Padda is the youngest winner, having received her first award at the age of 23, while Zaira Wasim became the youngest nominee at the age of 17. Vidya Balan was the first actress to win the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut before winning the award for Best Actress, followed by Deepika Padukone and Aneet Padda. Padda won both awards in the same year for the same film. Madhuri Dixit, Tabu, Rani Mukerji, and Anushka Sharma are the four actresses who have won both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Rani Mukerji are the five actresses who have won both the Best Actress and Best Actress (Critics) awards. Balan, Padukone, and Bhatt won both awards in the same year, with Balan winning for the same film and Padukone and Bhatt winning for two different films. Kajol and Tabu are the two actresses who have won both the Best Actress and Best Villain awards.
Multiple wins The following individuals have received two or more Best Actress awards:
Wins Actress 4 3Kajol 2
Multiple nominations The following individuals have received two or more Best Actress nominations, including multiple nominations in a single year.
Nominations Actress 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Winners and nominees + Table key Indicates the winner
1990s Year Winner Actor Role(s) Film 1998 (1st) Madhuri Dixit Pooja Dil To Pagal Hai Juhi Chawla Madhu Saxena Ishq Kajol Isha Diwan Gupt Karisma Kapoor Nisha Dil To Pagal Hai Meena Nath Malhotra Hero No. 1 1999 (2nd) Kajol Anjali Sharma Kuch Kuch Hota Hai Juhi Chawla Sonia Kapoor Duplicate Kajol Naina Sehgal & Sonia Sehgal (Twins) Dushman Muskaan Thakur Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya Rani Mukerji Alisha Mafatlal Ghulam
2000s Year Winner Actor Role(s) Film 2000 (3rd) Aishwarya Rai Nandini Darbar Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Aishwarya Rai Mansi Shankar Taal Kajol Nandita Rai Dil Kya Kare Megha Hum Aapke Dil Mein Rehte Hain Karisma Kapoor Pooja Mehra (née Makhija) Biwi No.1 2001 (4th) Tabu Aditi Pandit Astitva Aishwarya Rai Preeti Vyas Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai Karisma Kapoor Fiza Ikramullah Fiza Madhuri Dixit Anjali Pukar Preity Zinta Priya Bakshi Kya Kehna 2002 (5th) Tabu Mumtaz Ali Ansari Chandni Bar Ameesha Patel Sakeena "Sakku" Tara Singh (née Ali) Gadar: Ek Prem Katha Kajol Anjali Sharma Raichand Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham Karisma Kapoor Zubeidaa Suleiman Seth / Zubeidaa Mehboob Alam / Rani Meenakshi Devi Zubeidaa Nandita Das Saanvri Bawandar 2003 (6th) Aishwarya Rai Parvati "Paro" Devdas Karisma Kapoor Nandini Shakti: The Power Madhuri Dixit Chandramukhi Devdas Rani Mukerji Dr. Suhani Sehgal (née Sharma) Saathiya Tabu Rewa Singh Filhaal... 2004 (7th) Urmila Matondkar Swati Bhoot Antara Mali Chutki Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon Hema Malini Pooja Malhotra Baghban Preity Zinta Naina Catherine Kapur Kal Ho Naa Ho Rani Mukerji Priya Chopra Mathur Chalte Chalte 2005 (8th) Rani Mukerji Rhea Prakash Hum Tum Kareena Kapoor Aaliya Dev Mallika Sherawat Simran Sehgal Murder Preity Zinta Zaara Hayaat Khan Veer-Zaara Shilpa Shetty Tamanna Sahni Phir Milenge Urmila Matondkar Sarika Vartak Ek Hasina Thi 2006 (9th) Rani Mukerji Michelle McNally Black Konkona Sen Sharma Madhavi Sharma Page 3 Preity Zinta Ambar "Amby" Malhotra Salaam Namaste Rani Mukerji Vimmi "Babli" Saluja Bunty Aur Babli Urmila Matondkar Trisha Chaudhary Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara Vidya Balan Lalita Roy Parineeta 2007 (10th) Kajol Zooni Qadri (née Ali Beg) Fanaa Aishwarya Rai Amiran (Umrao Jaan) Umrao Jaan Ayesha Takia Meera Dor Bipasha Basu Nishigandha Dasgupta Corporate Kareena Kapoor Dolly Mishra Omkara Rani Mukerji Maya Talwar Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna 2008 (11th) Kareena Kapoor Geet Kaur Dhillon Jab We Met Aishwarya Rai Sujata "Suju" Desai Guru Deepika Padukone Shantipriya aka Shanti & Sandhya "Sandy" Bansal Om Shanti Om Katrina Kaif Jasmeet "Jazz" Malhotra Singh Namastey London Tabu Nina Verma Cheeni Kum Vidya Balan Avni Chaturvedi / Manjulika Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2009 Not held
2010s Year Winner Actor Role(s) Film 2010 Not held 2011 (12th) Vidya Balan Krishna Verma Ishqiya Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Sofia D'Souza Guzaarish Anushka Sharma Shruti Kakkar Band Baaja Baaraat Deepika Padukone Aaliya Khan Break Ke Baad Kajol Mandira Khan (née Rathore) My Name Is Khan Kareena Kapoor Daboo Golmaal 3 Katrina Kaif Indu Pratap (née Seksaria) Raajneeti 2012 (13th) Vidya Balan Reshma / Silk The Dirty Picture Kangana Ranaut Tanuja Trivedi a.k.a. "Tanu" Tanu Weds Manu Kareena Kapoor Divya Rana / Chhaya Bodyguard Katrina Kaif Laila Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Priyanka Chopra Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes (also known as Saheb, Suzi, Sultana, Anna and Sunaina) 7 Khoon Maaf 2013 (14th) Priyanka Chopra Jhilmil Chatterjee Barfi Deepika Padukone Veronica Malaney Cocktail Kareena Kapoor Rosie / Simran Talaash: The Answer Lies Within Sridevi Shashi Godbole English Vinglish Vidya Balan Vidya Bagchi Kahaani 2014 (15th) Deepika Padukone Meenalochni "Meenamma" Azhagusundaram Chennai Express Deepika Padukone Leela Sanera Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela Naina Talwar Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Parineeti Chopra Gayatri Shuddh Desi Romance Shraddha Kapoor Aarohi Shirke Aashiqui 2 Sonam Kapoor Zoya Haider Raanjhanaa 2016 (16th) Deepika Padukone Mastani Bajirao Mastani Anushka Sharma Meera NH10 Deepika Padukone Piku Banerjee Piku Kangana Ranaut Tanuja "Tanu" Sharma / Kusum "Datto" Sangwan Tanu Weds Manu: Returns Priyanka Chopra Kashibai Bajirao Mastani Ayesha Mehra Dil Dhadakne Do 2017(17th) Anushka Sharma Aarfa Ali Khan (née Hussain)Sultan Alia Bhatt Kaira Dear Zindagi Bauria a.k.a. Mary Jane Udta Punjab Fatima Sana Shaikh Geeta Phogat Dangal Sonam Kapoor Neerja Bhanot Neerja Taapsee Pannu Minal Arora Pink 2018(18th) Alia Bhatt Vaidehi Trivedi Badrinath Ki Dulhania Bhumi Pednekar Jaya Sharma (née Joshi) Toilet: Ek Prem Katha Kriti Sanon Bitti Mishra Bareilly Ki Barfi Sridevi Devki Sabarwal Mom Vidya Balan Sulochana "Sulu" Dubey Tumhari Sulu Zaira Wasim Insia Malik Secret Superstar 2019(19th) Alia Bhatt Sehmat Syed (née Khan) Raazi Anushka Sharma Mamta Sharma Sui Dhaaga Deepika Padukone Padmavati Padmaavat Kareena Kapoor Kalindi Puri Veere Di Wedding Sonam Kapoor Avni Sharma Taapsee Pannu Advocate Aarti Malhotra Mulk
2020s Year Winner Actor Role(s) Film 2020(20th) Alia Bhatt Safeena Firdausi Gully Boy Kareena Kapoor Deepti Batra Good Newwz Kiara Advani Dr. Preeti Sikka Kabir Singh Kriti Sanon Rashmi Trivedi Luka Chuppi Rakul Preet Singh Ayesha Khurana De De Pyaar De Shraddha Kapoor Maya Sharma Chhichhore 2021 Not held 2022 2023(21st) Alia Bhatt Badrunissa Sheikh Darlings Alia Bhatt Gangubai Kathiawadi Gangubai Kathiawadi Bhumi Pednekar Sumi Singh Badhaai Do Deepika Padukone Alisha Khanna Gehraiyaan Kiara Advani Reet Thakur Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Kriti Sanon Dr. Anika Bhediya 2024(22nd) Kiara Advani Katha Kapadia Satyaprem Ki Katha Alia Bhatt Rani Chatterjee Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani Deepika Padukone Rubina "Rubai" Mohsin Pathaan Shraddha Kapoor Nisha "Tinni" Malhotra Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar Rani Mukerji Debika Chatterjee Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway Nayanthara Narmada Rai Jawan2025 (23rd) Shraddha Kapoor Unnamed Stree 2Kriti SanonSifra Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha JiyaTriptii DimriSaloni BaggaBad NewzKareena KapoorJasmine KohliCrewYami GautamZooni HaksarArticle 370Katrina KaifMariaMerry Christmas2026 (24th) Aneet Padda Vaani Batra SaiyaaraYami GautamShazia BanoHaqKangana RanautIndira GandhiEmergencyTriptii DimriVidhi BharadwajDhadak 2Kriti SanonMukti BeniwalTere Ishk MeinSonam BajwaAdaa RandhawaEk Deewane Ki Deewaniyat
See also Zee Cine Awards Bollywood Cinema of India
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References