Village belles take a stroll in Tollywood

It seems to be the season of village belle roles in Tollywood. Glam divas like Samantha, Rashmika, Jhanvi Kapoor,  and Nupur Sharma who are known for ultra-modern outfits, are donning half sarees and blouses besides chudidars to woo the audience in a big way. “It all depends on the story and the role the actress is playing,“ says producer Abhishek Agarwal who roped in B-town diva Nupur Sanon to appear in a traditional look in the recent film ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’  “Nupur had no hesitation to transform from a glam girl into village belle since our film was rooted in village and her looks had to match it,” he adds.

Already, another Bollywood diva Jhanvi Kapoor received appreciation for her enchanting look from her upcoming Telugu film ‘Devara’ wherein she dressed in a traditional half-saree and a lehenga with elegant accessories. It is quite a contrast to her look in her Bollywood films.

“Every actor understands the script's demands and accordingly goes in for a makeover. If the film is rural-based, the actress cannot be wearing Western outfits. When they come to Telugu films, Bollywood divas are game for makeovers and new avatars to showcase their skills,” adds Abhishek Agarwal.  

Earlier, Samantha pulled off a typical rural girl role in ‘Rangasthalam’ and set a precedent of sorts for new-age divas. Rashmika followed it up with a swashbuckling village girl role in ‘Pushpa’ and mesmerized the viewers.  “It is true that ‘Rangasthalam’ triggered a trend of sorts and it was followed by ‘Pushpa’ and both incidentally were directed by Sukumar, who is penning rural-based stories these days,” says director Jeevitha Rajasekhar, who claims that rural looks are closer to reality and familiar too. “It is a good sign that actresses are popularizing our native looks and striking a chord with masses and prompting other actresses to join the fray,” she points out.

Even new-age actresses like Neha Shetty in ‘Bedurlanka 2012’ and Payal Rajput in ‘Mangalavarmam’  joined the fray along with other divas. “Tamil and Malayalam movies boast of village belle roles since they dish out realistic and village-centric movies. Now, Telugu cinema is turning a bit realistic and capturing stories from our towns, and characters are bound to reflect it,” she informs.

Talking about preparation,  actress Jeevitha who played village belle roles in films says, “A city-born girl would be finding it interesting to do a rural character. Initially, being bit amused and thereafter settling down to rock,” she concludes.