Probably, to match up with action stars like Prabhas, Jr NTR and Allu Arjun, Telugu actresses are turning violent and merciless in their movies.
If Anushka Shetty is slitting the throat of a thug with a sickle in the trailer of ‘Ghaati’, Keerthy Suresh mericeslly killed thugs in ‘Saani Kaayidham’ and ‘Akka’ and definitely, giving the heroes a run for their money.
“I don’t think they are competing with heroes but probably wanted to do something different and away from their earlier ones," says producer M S Raju, who admits that Anushka’s role in ‘Ghaati’ is a bit dark.
“She would have found something unique in the script that excited her and portrayed a role with dark shades. She is a versatile actor and could slip into all kinds of roles. From spooky thriller ‘Arundhati’ to her last comic-caper ‘Miss Shetty Mister Polishetty’ and proved her mettle. She is next only to Vijayashanthi who has attained a larger-than-life image and raised the bar on women-centric movies,” he adds.
He also praises Keerthy Suresh who is also exploring roles with varied shades rather sticking to predictable and goody goody roles. “Keerthy Suresh did a grey role in ‘Mahanati’ at much younger age and now, she is showcasing her fiery side in ‘Saani Kaayidham’ and ‘Akka’ to expand her fan base. Even Nayantara's role in her next film ‘Rakkayie’ which could be dubbed in Telugu is an anger-driven role and she makes mincemeat of her opponent in the trailer and kind of goosebumps stuff,” he points out.
However, other actresses are playing responsible roles of police officers and RAW agents. Samantha(Citadel), Anupama Parameswaran(Tillu Square), Payal Rajput( Rakshana), Kajal Aggarwal( Satyabhama), Nandita Swetha (Hidimbha) and Lakshmi Manchu(Agni Nakshatram) to name a few who play fiery roles. “But becoming a full-blown action heroines will take lot of time and effort and only in choosing good scripts,” adds M S Raju
Giving a director’s perspective on glam divas going for image makeover with gangster and cop roles, director Hemanth Madhukar who trained actress Anjali to a play New York cop in ‘Nishabdham, says "I think every actress wants to explore varied roles since they are mostly confined to glam-centric or bubbly kind of roles. Once-in-a-while they get an opportunity to wield guns and they are doing their best. It is kind of a challenge for glam divas to showcase their fiery side to reach out to the masses. These days, actresses are game to turn action queens and revelling in doing some kickbutt scenes,’ he concludes.