Savita, 23, Monisha, 18, and 16-year-old Savitri are just like any other young women except their bodies have been covered from head to foot in thick hair.

Werewolf syndrome – or hypertricosis universalis – affects just one in a BILLION people but in an incredible quirk of fate all THREE sisters have the condition.

Hyperthrichosis is a genetic mutation where cells, that normally switch off hair growth in unusual areas, like the eyelids and forehead, are left switched on.

It means the girls have had abnormal hair growth on their bodies and even their faces, affecting their eyebrows, nose and giving them appearance of having a beard.

Every day is a battle for the siblings who are now just beginning to bring the condition under control using a special hair removal cream.

Compared to these pictures taken just last year the sisters, from southern India, have changed remarkably, and two of the sisters have managed to remove much of the hair growth from their faces.

The sisters use hair remover cream every day, but to little avail
 

But every day is still a constant battle and not using the cream will see the hair quickly return, with the youngest sister Savitri still virtually covered.

The girl’s mother Anita Sambhaji Raut has six daughters in total with only three having werewolf syndrome.

The condition was passed down by the girl’s father who Anita was forced to marry aged 12 not knowing he had the condition as she had never seen him till their wedding day.

Anita and her daughters are now desperate to fund laser surgery that will help to finally remove the curse of excess hair and allow the girls to lead normal lives.

In their small village near Pune, central India, the girls have little prospects for marriage and the eldest Savita sometimes gets sent home from work when her hair begins to show.

Laser surgery would cost 350,000 Indian rupees or £4,500 per girl but the family are not wealthy enough to be able to afford it.

Now documentary filmmaker Sneh Gupta is planning make a film of the girls in a bid to help their dream of becoming almost hair free – with the eventual aim finding marriage.

The sisters are keen to marry – but want to achieve their dream of becoming hair-free, first

Mum Anita, 40, said her husband – who died in 2007 and whose portrait hangs in the family home – also suffered from werewolf syndrome.

Anita was being looked after by her uncle and auntie as her parents had passed away and they told her if she didn’t marry this man they would kill her off.

She said: “It was only on the day of my marriage that I discovered what he was, (he) was hairy on his face, ears and body, that’s when I found out.

“I was very young, I didn’t know what kind of boy he was, he scared the hell out of me when he arrived at the altar. He’s the groom, I am the bride, I had no idea what all that meant.

“I was only 12 when they forced me into marriage, and if you don’t agree to marriage as a girl they will kill you off.

“I asked my mother-in-law why my daughters were born like this and she told me because their father is like this, at the time (as a baby) my daughter had little hairs all over her face.

“When I used to take her (Savita) out as a child, they used to shout here comes the beast, the witch, that’s what they said.

“They keep her at work now for 10 to 15 days, and then after that they ask her to leave as soon as the hair starts showing through, that’s what they do.

“I tell people this is the type of girl she is, hair grows on her face, she has to apply medicine, we must be honest with everybody.”

In the village society a woman does not have much prospects if she is not married and mum Anita explained she was still trying to get her daughters a man.

She said: “If a good proposal comes in, I’ll get her married. If nothing comes in she’ll have to work and survive. As long as I am living I have to keep trying.”

Eldest daughter Savita, who now using a cream to try and combat her hair growth, said: “When I used to go to school the boys and the girls would shout, ‘hairy face’, ‘horrible looking’, ‘don’t sit next to her’, that’s how they behaved.

“Marriage is not an option for us, it’s not likely to happen, who is going to marry us when hair keeps growing on our faces.”

Brady’s numbers were solid—27-of-41, 276 yards, two TDs, one interception. But they were not as good as Eli Manning’s—30-of-40, 296 yards, one TD, no interceptions. Manning was the NFL’s best quarterback this postseason with nine touchdowns, one interception and four victories that gave Manning his second Super Bowl ring.

— Fantasy Source: Eli’s future in 2012 draft

— New York celebrates | Giants turn Patriots’ gamble into TD | Tuck’s big sack

Brady will spend the entire offseason thinking about several throws he wanted back. One came early in fourth quarter, when his deep pass intended for Rob Gronkowski was intercepted by Chase Blackburn. The Patriots led 17-15 at the time, and had they scored a touchdown, they would have put the Giants in a nine-point hole that would have been difficult to recover from.

“I wish I had gotten a little more on it, given Gronk a better chance to make the play,” Brady said.

Another mistake by Brady came on his first throw of the game, when he dropped into the end zone to pass and was rushed by Justin Tuck. Not wanting to take a sack, Brady airmailed his pass well over the head of any receivers. After a brief conference among the officials, Brady was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, which meant a safety for the Giants and a 2-0 lead.

— Videos: Tuck sacks Brady | Hernandez TD | Woodhead TD | Cruz TD | Final play | Super ads

— 2012 NFL Draft: Selection order (for now) in first round

The Patriots argued the call, but Brady would not say it was a bad call.

“It’s a referee’s judgment call,” Brady said. “I threw it in the middle of the field. Tuck was coming to get me and I tried to get rid of it.”

There were also times when Brady’s teammates could have done more to help him. Still leading 17-15, the Patriots took possession with 9:24 left in the game and had another chance to take a two-score lead. However, with just over four minutes to play, Wes Welker failed to haul in a pass that would have given the Patriots a first down in Giants’ territory. It was not an easy leaping catch, but Welker got two hands on the football and felt he should have caught it. The Patriots’ drive stalled, and they were forced to punt to the Giants, who drove for the winning touchdown.

“I saw the ball in the air, I made a play on it,” Welker said. “It was right there. I should have brought it down. It’s one I’ll have to live with.”

Brady refused to single out Welker, or anyone else.

“It wasn’t one play,” Brady said. “Everyone feels like we could have done more.”

Brady was one of the last players to address the media, but he answered questions patiently, although somberly. Afterward, he walked back toward the locker room where he was met by his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen. They shared a long hug and kept walking, leaving behind a season that ended one victory short for Brady.

SI: Snap Judgments | Super Bowl grades

He is still a great quarterback, but Brady will turn 35 years old in August and cannot be certain if he will ever return to the Super Bowl. Nobody’s NFL future is guaranteed. Ask Peyton Manning. But Brady vowed to come back as determined as ever.

“I’ve been lucky enough to be in this game five times in the last 10 years, Brady said. “I’d love to keep coming back. It’s better than sitting home. I hope we have another opportunity.”

But for Brady and the Patriots, another opportunity for glory was snatched away by the Giants.

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“We had to go down and score, and guys stepped up and made great plays.”

Manning (30-for-40, 296 yards, one TD) was sacked three times and faced unexpectedly good pressure from the Patriots’ front four. But he survived to make key downfield strikes to both Hakeem Nicks (10 catches, 109 yards) and Manningham (five catches, 73 yards) while Victor Cruz (four catches for 25 yards) was bottled up. He also saw tight ends Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard go out with injuries.

It was a gritty outing for Manning, who trumped his brother Peyton (in the home stadium of Peyton’s Colts) with a second ring. With Eli edging Brady, it also meant another head-to-head Super Bowl victory for his coach, Tom Coughlin, over the Patriots’ Bill Belichick.

“He just hung in there,” said the Mannings’ father, Archie, of Eli’s performance. “He was patient, and he had to be patient.

— Videos: Tuck sacks Brady | Hernandez TD | Woodhead TD | Cruz TD | Final play | Super ads

— 2012 NFL Draft: Selection order (for now) in first round

“There wasn’t anything easy out there. He played like a quarterback needs to play.”

Eli Manning boldly said before the 2011 season, coming off leading the NFL in interceptions in 2010, that he was an elite quarterback who belonged in the company of signal-callers such as Brady. With another gutsy performance and deliverance in the clutch, he proved that on Sunday.

Manning isn’t the only remaining Giant who repeated a big performance from Super Bowl XLII. Defensive end Justin Tuck matched his two-sack output from four years ago, including his dropping of Brady to help dash the Patriots’ last-gasp hopes.

Tuck and New York’s front four weren’t its only defensive strength, as the back seven responded with solid coverage to limit the damage of Brady’s best receivers. Aaron Hernandez was most effective (eight catches, 67 yards, one TD), while fellow second-year tight end, Gronkowski, who was battling a high ankle sprain, had only two receptions for 26 yards.

Brady was forced to spread the ball around underneath, and the Giants’ secondary did well to control elusive wide receiver Wes Welker out of the slot, limiting him to seven catches for 60 yards. The Giants’ rising star at defensive end, Jason Pierre-Paul, also contributed to thwart Brady by batting down two of his passes.

— From SI: Snap judgments | Super Bowl grades

Although Brady found some rhythm midway through the game, his receivers were frustrated by the plays they didn’t make. That included Welker, who couldn’t come up with a deep pass from his quarterback that might have put the game out of reach with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a play I’ve made a thousand times in practice and everything else,” Welker said. “It comes to the biggest moment of my life and don’t come up with it. It’s discouraging.”

While Manningham, who managed to hold on in his big-play moment, did his best impression of Tyree with a jaw-dropping reception, Nicks was an upgrade of the man who caught the game-winning TD from Manning four years ago, Plaxico Burress. Gone from that team is Michael Strahan, but now the Giants have the super-athletic Pierre-Paul helping Tuck with his explosiveness off the edge.

There’s no doubt Manning had a stronger, more talented supporting cast in his second go-around against the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He’s the unquestioned seasoned leader on the field, but surrounded by skilled youth, he has helped the Giants—the first 9-7 team to win the Super Bowl—re-emerge as a threat to add to their Lombardi Trophy case in the near future.

With two rings, Manning matches fellow 2004 first-round pick Ben Roethlisberger and is just one away from Brady, from whom he took away two potential championships.

After taking Manning first overall in 2004 and knowing they had a franchise QB with whom to complete for Super Bowl titles, Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese have done well creating a team built for this pass-happy era.

Manning, armed with Nicks, Cruz and Manningham, is capable of matching up with any opposing team’s quarterback and array of weapons, such as Brady with Gronkowski, Welker and Hernandez. The formula, however, wouldn’t be complete, without a pass rush that consistently makes Manning’s counterpart uncomfortable.

The Giants may seem like the most improbable of champions, both now and four years ago, but it’s not surprising when you examine the strengths that have put them in position to be what the Patriots were—a dynasty marked by a great quarterback-coaching combination.

“Each one is very unique, and this one is just as exciting, probably more so because of the kind of year we had,” Coughlin said. “What a wonderful experience it was to see the team come together like they did.”

The Giants had the most complete, battle-tested team, start to finish, of anyone in the NFL this season, and that’s why they’re most deserving to be the last team standing.

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INDIANAPOLIS — The word of the season was finish, and boy, what a finish it was.

Super Bowl XLVI ended with a 51-yard pass from Tom Brady fluttering toward the end zone, where Aaron Hernandez was hunting a game-winning touchdown reception. Instead, about 57 seconds after Eli Manning had driven the Giants for their own go-ahead touchdown on Ahmad Bradshaw‘s 6-yard run, Kenny Phillips was able to bat the ball away and give the Giants a 21-17 victory and a championship.

“I remember hitting it, and after that, everyone just fell all over the place,” Phillips said. “I looked to my right and saw the ball on the ground and I knew the game was over.”

PHOTOS: Game, celebration highlights | Madonna’s halftime show

The Giants’ defense, which had been bailed out so often during the season by Manning’s late-game heroics, finally was able to return the favor. But that occurred only after Manning, who won his second Super Bowl MVP award, gave them the lead.

The Giants trailed by two points when they got the ball at their 12 with 3:46 remaining. Manning started the drive with a 38-yard pass down the left sideline to Mario Manningham, who managed to get two feet in. The play was challenged by the Patriots but upheld as a completion, costing Bill Belichick a critical timeout.

Manning then drove the Giants to the 6, where the Patriots gave Ahmad Bradshaw a free run into the end zone with 57 seconds left so they could get the ball back. It probably was the only touchdown Bradshaw ever scored that he wished he hadn’t. He put on the brakes at the goal line but couldn’t keep his balance and fell backward into the end zone, which was exactly what the Patriots wanted.

It gave the Giants a 21-17 lead — they failed on the two-point conversion run — but the Patriots and Brady got the ball back with 57 seconds remaining.

Justin Tuck said he reminded his defensive teammates of the feeling three months ago when the Patriots scored what looked like a game-winning touchdown with 1:36 remaining. “I was sick to my stomach,” he said of that experience. “[I told them] if they score here, you’re going to be 25 times sicker. I think a lot of guys’ eyes lit up and they remembered how that felt. I just told them to go out there and finish . . . We have 57 seconds to be world champions.”

The Patriots began at their 20, and after two incompletions — including a drop by Aaron Hernandez — Tuck sacked Brady for the second time to set up fourth-and-16 from the 14 with 39 seconds left. Brady sidestepped pressure and completed a 19-yard sideline pass to Deion Branch. An 11-yard pass to Hernandez put the ball at the Patriots’ 44 with 19 seconds left, and Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock. Then he threw incomplete to Hernandez and incomplete to Branch.

The final play of the game was a third-and-5 from the Patriots’ 49, and Brady threw into the end zone. Hernandez was the first Patriot with a shot at the ball, but Rob Gronkowski had the best chance to catch it after Phillips batted it away.

“I was trying to figure out if I could catch it or not,” Phillips said. “I was trying to figure out what to do. Once it got closer, I thought to myself, ‘Just knock it down.’ ”

Hernandez said no Patriots ever touched the ball in the end zone.

“It was like you just kept watching it and watching it and watching it,” Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “It seemed like it was for an eternity. When we saw the official [signal incomplete], that was the best feeling in the world.”

“You look at our game four years ago, it was a miracle play that they made,” Brady said, referring to David Tyree‘s helmet catch. “Today, we had the chance to make one of those and we couldn’t come up with it. It always comes down to one or two plays in this game, and if you make them, you’re celebrating. If you don’t, then you don’t sleep for a week.”

It gave the Giants their fourth Super Bowl title and their second one over the Patriots in the last five seasons.

The Patriots won three Super Bowls in four years beginning 10 years ago. The Giants wounded that dynasty four years ago. And on Sunday night, they officially put it to rest.

“We decapitated them,” Brandon Jacobs told ESPN. “They can’t wear that crown no more.”

“You never get used to this,” team president and CEO John Mara said as he accepted the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

In a way, this one was even more improbable than that remarkable win four years ago.

The Giants went from seven-and-seven to Super Bowl heaven. They are the first seven-loss team ever to earn a ring. They also fulfilled the season’s mantra of “finish” that Tom Coughlin stressed after they failed to do it in so many games late last season.

Left by many on the scrap heap when they lost to the Redskins in Week 15 and fell to .500, the Giants won six straight games, including Sunday night’s.

The victory puts Coughlin and Manning on very exclusive lists as coaches and quarterbacks with multiple championships. A season that began with questions about Manning’s elite status and proceeded through questions about Coughlin’s job security ended with them passing the Lombardi Trophy to each other at midfield at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Manning completed 30 of 40 passes for 296 yards and a TD. It was the eighth time this season that he engineered a winning drive in the fourth quarter or later. The Giants became the fifth team in Super Bowl history to overcome a deficit of at least eight points, and the first to overcome that deficit in the second half.

“We’ve had a bunch of them this year,” Manning said. “There at the end when we had an opportunity in the fourth quarter, we’d been in those situations . . . Guys stepped up and made great plays.”

The Giants dominated most of the first half, but a 96-yard drive late in the second quarter gave the Patriots a 10-9 halftime lead. Brady completed 10 of 10 passes, including a 4-yard touchdown strike to former Jet Danny Woodhead with eight seconds remaining. The drive was officially 96 yards, but the team actually went 98 because the drive started with a false-start penalty.

The Patriots’ first drive of the game also started deep in their own territory. On that one, though, Tuck came crashing through the line, zig-zagging and bouncing off blockers, and hit Brady just as he launched a deep pass. Because there was no receiver in the area of the pass and Brady threw from his own end zone, he was flagged for intentional grounding and the Giants were awarded a safety.

The Giants drove 78 yards and went ahead 9-0 on a 2-yard pass from Manning to Victor Cruz, who was able to salsa dance for the first time this postseason. Two plays earlier, Cruz caught a pass and fumbled, but the Patriots had 12 men on the field and the turnover was negated.

The Patriots responded with a drive for a field goal and the teams exchanged punts. The Giants had third-and-1 from the Patriots’ 46 and Jacobs broke through the line for 10 yards, but Kevin Boothe was flagged for holding and sent them back 10 yards. They eventually had to punt, and even though Steve Weatherford put the ball out of bounds at the 4, the Patriots drove all the way to take the lead.

“We understood that we kind of gave them one right there,” Tuck said. “We had played a pretty good first half, keeping them to three points at that point [before the drive]. We didn’t finish the first half. I’m glad we finished the second.”

They didn’t start it very well. The Patriots, who won the coin toss and deferred to the second half, started the third quarter the same way they ended the second a half-hour earlier. They drove 79 yards, and Hernandez caught a 12-yard TD pass for a 17-9 lead.

The Giants chipped away, settling for two field goals by Lawrence Tynes in the red zone to close within 17-15 late in the third.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Chase Blackburn intercepted Brady on a play that was reminiscent of the Tyree catch in Super Bowl XLII. Brady escaped a sack, rolled to open space and chucked the ball down the middle of the field just as Manning had four years ago. This time, though, Blackburn had inside position on Gronkowski and picked off the pass.

The Giants did not score off the turnover, wasting more than five minutes and burning two timeouts before punting.

The Patriots didn’t answer with a score, but they gobbled up about 51/2 minutes to give the Giants the ball at their own 12 with 3:46 remaining. And that was more than enough time for Manning.

“This isn’t about one person,” Manning said. “This is about a team coming together, getting a win. We never got discouraged, kept the faith and kept the confidence and just fought to the very end.”

The very, very end, appropriately enough.

“I don’t think I could have wrote a better script than this one,” Tuck said. “We talked about it all year and it’s just fitting that it comes down to a final drive by Eli and us closing it out on defense.”

Fewell, too, understood the symmetry.

“Our theme at the beginning of camp was to finish,” he said. “It made me very proud that we were able to finish the game . . . and with one of the best finishes ever.”

A wealthy Florida man has adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend as a daughter in a move critics say will protect the man’s assets during an upcoming lawsuit surrounding a deadly car accident.

Polo Club Palm Beach founder John Goodman, 48, adopted his longtime partner Heather Laruso Hutchins in October, The Palm Beach Post reports.

The strategy could shore up Goodman’s wealth as he confronts a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the parents of Scott Patrick Wilson, The Associated Press says. Wilson was killed in 2010 when Goodman allegedly ran a stop sign. The trial begins March 27.

Goodman had previously set up a trust for his two minor children. If Wilson’s parents win their civil suit, they cannot receive any compensation from the trust, The Post reports.

Hutchins, as Goodman’s third legal child, is now entitled to a third of the money in the trust. However, another court could later rule that Hutchins isn’t entitled to a share of the trust, Fox News reports.

A lawyer for the Wilson family claims it’s a ploy for Goodman to keep money for himself. But Dan Bachi, Goodman’s lawyer, told The Palm Beach Post, the adoption is to guarantee his children’s future and denied that it was spurred by the lawsuit.

Florida attorney Charlotte Danciu said in an interview with TV station WPEC that Goodman is abusing the state’s adoption law, which is designed to create parent-child relationships.

Even Circuit Court Judge Glenn Kelley, who approved Goodman’s adoption application in Miami-Dade County, described the request as “border[ing] on the surreal,” and said it put the court in a “legal twilight zone.”

Sobriety tests revealed that Goodman was driving with a blood-alcohol level two times above the legal limit on the night Wilson died. Besides the civil case, he faces a March trial for vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a crime. Those charges carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. He has pleaded not gui

Special teams

The Patriots earned their Super Bowl trip because of a missed field-goal attempt by the Ravens, while the Giants forced a fumble on a punt return to set up another NFC championship overtime game-winner by Lawrence Tynes. If New England must call on Stephen Gostkowski in an Adam Vinatieri-like Super Bowl scenario late, it will have great trust in its kicker. Gostkowski also is an exceptional kickoff man who can expect to boom home touchbacks.

The punters are superb at pinning teams back, with the Giants’ Steve Weatherford, based on experience, being a notch better than the Patriots’ Zoltan Mesko.

The Patriots sent a cover man, Matthew Slater to the Pro Bowl, while the Giants got inspired play by rookie Tyler Sash in that capacity. Wide receiver Devin Thomas also came up huge against the 49ers.

The return game is a real wild card. The Patriots have tried Woodhead, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty, but they really miss Brandon Tate back there; Tate is now with the Bengals. A good wrinkle for the Giants might be letting rookie Jerrel Jernigan take his shot on punt returns against New England. Advantage: Giants.

Coaching

Tom Coughlin is an interesting case study. Right when the Giants’ coach is on the hot seat, he seems to do his best motivational job. He has experience outwitting Bill Belichick in their 2007 championship game, but it’s still hard not to side with the hoodie.

Belichick did a remarkable job of getting his mixed bag of defensive players to be good enough to complement the offense. Thanks to Bill O’Brien running the offense, the Patriots have unleashed a creative two-tight end offense for which it’s hard to prepare. On the other side, Kevin Gilbride has been in synch with the talents of Manning, and benefited from having better personnel around his quarterback.

— Meet the teams: New York Giants | New England Patriots
— Regular season: Giants win in Week 9 showdown
— Video: Latest from Sporting News providers

On defense, while Belichick has made the best of his roster, Giants coordinator Perry Fewell knows he is loaded up front at both tackle and end. With a linebacker corps and secondary that has struggled in coverage, he’s wisely played to the strength in designing a top-flight pressure scheme.

But with Belichick stepping into his fifth Super Bowl, he puts this in New England’s column—just not as much as some might think. Advantage: Patriots.

Intangibles

It doesn’t sit well with Brady and Belichick that after losing to the Giants in Glendale, Ariz., four years ago, it’s been a long road back to just to get a shot at a fourth Super Bowl ring. They should remember how the Giants spoiled that chance for perfection, and that no amount of preparation will be enough.

For Eli Manning, he can put to rest the notion that’s he’s the little brother of an active legend, especially playing in Peyton’s home stadium. He has proved to be a durable, tough performer. A second title would give Eli one more than Peyton and show he just might be the best money quarterback in the family.

In addition to playing for their coach and quarterback, playing for their owner should add extra emotional drive to the Patriots. Advantage: Patriots.

Prediction

It might seem like the Patriots are ripe for another upset, but what they consider a failure in Super Bowl XLII will be exactly why they succeed in Super Bowl XLVI. Patriots 27, Giants 24

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After months of speculation, awards season has focused onto a precious few: the 2012 Oscar nominees! As Jennifer Lawrence read in her mannered, future Katniss Everdeen-y voice, “The Artist,” “The Descendants” and “Hugo” were the big winners during nomination morning, with stars like Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams and earning huzzahs as well.

Ahead, the full list of nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards; the Billy Crystal-hosted ceremony airs on ABC on Feb. 26.
BEST PICTURE

“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“The Help”
“Moneyball”
“War Horse”
“The Tree of Life”

BEST ACTOR

Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

BEST ACTRESS

Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte, “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
Max Von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”

BEST DIRECTOR

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Alexander Payne, “The Descendants”
Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
JC Chandor, “Margin Call”
Asghar Farhadi, “A Separation”
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, “Bridesmaids”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
John Logan, “Hugo”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, Stan Chevren “Moneyball”
Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughn, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“A Cat In Paris”
“Chico & Rita”
“Kung Fu Panda 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE

“Bullhead”
“Footnote”
“In Darkness”
“Monsier Lazhar”
“A Separation”

BEST ART DIRECTION

“The Artist”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Midnight in Paris”
“War Horse”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Artist”
“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“The Tree of Life”
“War Horse”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

“Anonymous”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Jane Eyre”
“W.E.”

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

“Hell and Back Again”
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
“Pina”
“Undefeated”

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”

BEST FILM EDITING

“The Artist”
“The Descendants”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”

Best MAKEUP

“Albert Nobbs”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“The Iron Lady”

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“The Adventures of Tintin”
“The Artist”
“Hugo”
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
“War Horse”

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

“Dimanche/Sunday”
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore”
“La Luna”
“A Morning Stroll”
“Wild Life”

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

“Pentecost”
“Raju”
“The Shore”
“Time Freak”
“Tuba Atlantic”

BEST SOUND EDITING

“Drive”
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

BEST SOUND MIXING

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
“Hugo”
“Moneyball”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“War Horse”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”

Another awards season, another round of complaints that there are few good roles for actresses, unless you’re Meryl Streep. And yet, this year’s awards-hopeful movies featured terrific performances by actresses in a wide variety of multifaceted roles. If anything, the 2011 crop of potential Best Actresses and Best Supporting Actresses include fully realized female characters who are much more fascinating than their male counterparts.

Actress Robin Wright (herself criminally overlooked for her 2011 starring role in “The Conspirator”) was one of the first to notice this, proclaiming 2011 “the Year of the Woman” while presenting earlier this month at the Critics Choice Awards. Awards Daily blogger Sasha Stone picked up the theme and ran with it, echoing Wright’s citation of “Bridesmaids” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and adding some other strong female characters who put their stamp on 2011, including the ensemble of “The Help,” Chloe Moretz’s aspiring writer in “Hugo,” Kathy Bates’ Gertrude Stein and Marion Cotillard’s bohemian Adriana in “Midnight in Paris,” savvy teen Shailene Woodley in “The Descendants,” Berenice Bejo’s rising starlet in “The Artist,” Tilda Swinton’s haunted mom in “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” and, of course, Michelle Williams’s Marilyn Monroe in “My Week With Marilyn” and Streep’s Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”

Still, Stone sees this trend as a blip in an otherwise boring awards race. I’m not so sure. Besides the roles she mentioned, there were many others of note — Glenn Close and Janet McTeer playing women living as men in 19th-century Ireland in “Albert Nobbs,” Keira Knightley’s psychoanalytic pioneer in “A Dangerous Method,” Vanessa Redgrave as Shakespeare’s fiercest mom in “Coriolanus,” Mia Wasikowska in the title role in “Jane Eyre,” Anna Paquin as a tormented teen in “Margaret,” Elizabeth Olsen as an escapee from a cult in “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” Kirsten Dunst as a depressed bride awaiting the end of the world in “Melancholia,” Carey Mulligan as the sex-addict’s sister with intimacy issues of her own in “Shame,” and Charlize Theron’s bitter writer in “Young Adult.”

By contrast, look at the men’s roles up for consideration this year. Many of them are subtle and even recessive — Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill’s thoughtful number crunchers in “Moneyball,” Ryan Gosling’s nameless and enigmatic wheelman in “Drive,” Gary Oldman’s nearly silent intelligence bureaucrat in “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,” and Jean Dujardin and Max Von Sydow’s wordless characters in “The Artist” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” respectively. Only a handful of men’s roles (Christopher Plummer’s gay senior in “Beginners,” Albert Brooks’ vicious gangster in “Drive,” Leonardo DiCaprio’s decade-spanning Hoover in “J. Edgar,” Michael Fassbender’s sexual compulsive in “Shame”) offered the kind of juicy, sink-your-teeth showiness that wins Oscars and that was par for the course for this year’s actresses.

What’s noteworthy about most of these women’s performances is that they stand independently, even when there are strong male performances in the movie as well (as in “The Artist,” “Shame,” and “Martha Marcy May Marlene”). The women are fully-rounded characters on their own; they’re not defined by their relationship to the men in their lives. This is most strikingly true of the female ensembles in “Bridesmaids” and “The Help.” It’s astonishing enough to have one such mainstream Hollywood movie in a year, but to have two almost seems an embarrassment of riches.

Granted, most of the great female roles offered by mainstream Hollywood this year were packed into just those two movies; most of the others were in art-house films that few moviegoers have seen (though that may change as Oscar night approaches and year-end indie films open wider across the country). Indeed, in mainstream movies, the old complaint is still valid that there aren’t enough well-rounded roles for actresses. But then, Hollywood doesn’t offer enough well-rounded roles for actors either; in fact, Hollywood seldom does well-rounded anymore. It does comic books and action extravaganzas and cheap horror chillers and broad comedies. It leaves dramas to the indie world. It’s no wonder, then, that A-list stars routinely drop their asking prices to appear in indie movies. The parts are more interesting and more likely to win awards.

Maybe 2011 really wasn’t that different, then. Maybe there have always been fascinating roles for women, just not where most moviegoers have been looking. Women moviegoers have long known, if they want to see women as fully human as themselves on screen, they can’t just stick to mainstream date-night movies that presents women (even romantic comedy heroines) as mere arm-candy to men. Then again, if Hollywood executives didn’t treat every successful, female-driven movie as fluke, if they recognized that movies like “Bridesmaids” and “The Help” represent a demographic of half the population that will pay to see women like themselves in movies, and if they decided to cater to that demographic and not just to teenage boys — well, then we’d really see a Year of the Woman at the multiplex.