Tollywood actresses are in pursuit of projects

Actresses these days no longer have the time to play the damsel in distress, in reel and real life. They don’t wait for projects to come to them, instead, doing what ever it takes to get these roles... sometimes even approaching directors and producers themselves.

Take the case of Samantha, for instance. For Ram Charan’s upcoming film, the director initially wanted to rope in actress Anupama Parameshwaran as the lead. The filmmakers almost confirmed her and the actress even tweeted about the project. But in a dramatic turn of events, Anupama was ousted from the project and Samantha was brought in.

Samantha reportedly approached the director for the role, albeit in a different way. “She sent her request to Ram Charan, who conveyed the same to the director and producer. With no other option, they succumbed to pressure and removed Anupama,” says a source.

Interestingly, Samantha’s manager had no clue about this project as he denied it even a day before the official announcement. It is also reported that Samantha got Janata Garage on the same lines as she sent feelers to director Koratala that she wanted to work with him. “She even reduced her remuneration for that project,” adds the source. Actress Rashi Khanna also tried her best to work with Ram Charan, but couldn’t succeed.

Now, another actress who delivered two blockbusters last year, has apparently approached a star wife for her husband’s upcoming film. “Though she may not bag this project, she wants to keep in touch with the star’s wife as she could be considered for his future films,” says a source.

Shriya Saran was originally not the first choice for Gautamiputra Satakarni. According to a source, director Krish initially approached other actresses like Nayanthara, Pooja Hegde, Anushka Shetty and Vedika. But somehow, Shriya Saran’s name emerged and the actress directly called Krish and expressed her interest to do the role. For the director’s other film Kanche, Pragya Jaiswal also pursued the role directly.

“The actress was supposed to work with the director for a Hindi film, but it didn’t work out, so she pursued this film since she wanted to work with Krish,” says a source. Meanwhile, she got all the other projects post Kanche through her manager.

Similarly, director Gunasekhar originally wanted to rope in Katrina Kaif or some other Hindi actress for Rudhramadevi, but Anushka Shetty sent him feelers and she even agreed to allot bulk dates for the film, which took a long time to make. Interestingly, none of these actresses talked about their remuneration when they pursued the roles, although they all ended up getting a good amount in the end.