Kartavyam (1990)

The definitive female cop movie featuring Vijayashanti., Apparently based on exploits of the real-life policewoman Kiran Bedi, the film stridently advocates a traditional Indian feminism as the female cop fights corrupt politicians, is attacked and injured, almost loses her job and survives mainly through her own will power. It won Vijayashanti an acting award along with an enduring screen image, repeated in eg. Surya IPS (1991), making stunt sequences mandatory in most of her subsequent films. The film was also seen as a kind of feminist version of Ankusham (1989).