Anushka, Kajal to revive female-oriented movies

With reigning star Anushka Shetty beginning to shoot for a big ticket film with director Krish, it looks like she is set to revive the fortunes of female-centric movies in Tollywood. She is joined by another popular actress Kajal Aggarwal with ‘Satyabhama’ and they are going to change the game. “Kajal Aggarwal has turned into a fiery angel in our cop story after playing softer roles in many films. She is toiling hard and performing kick-ass action sequences and she is going to be praised for her new avatar," says Mohan Tikka, producer of 'Satyabhama'. Other top-rung actresses who tasted success with author-backed roles include Samantha (Yashoda), Tapsee (Anando Brahma), Keethy Suresh (Mahanati), Anjali(Geetanjali) as they pulled in crowds for their movies. ”No doubt, few actresses have become crowd pullers these days but the hero's number is much higher in comparison,” says director Hemanth Madhukar.

While new generation heroines like Rashmika with ‘The Girlfriend’ and Payal Rajput with ‘Mangalavaram' have also joined the party and are raring to trek a new track. “It is a good sign that new-age actresses like Rashmika and Keerthy Suresh are doing female-centric movies. They are sure to give a boost to the lady-oriented genre in the Telugu filmdom. The audience would like to see them in multi-faceted roles, over their one-dimensional avatars in star-driven movies,” says producer and distributor Abhishek Nama, who distributed the female-oriented film 'Rudramma Devi' .

Giving a director’s perspective to this emerging trend, director Hemanth Madhukar, who made 'Nishabdam' with Anushka Shetty says, "If we cast a heroine as the protagonist, we can bring out varied emotions through their performances, unlike a hero-centric movie, where directors are restricted to just depict action and romance. Of course, there are many heroines who want to jump into the lady-centric bandwagon, but only a handful are able to make a mark," he says and adds, "I am readying an exciting script for an actress and will soon announce a women-oriented movie because it is challenging for every director to attempt this genre once in a while,” he concludes.