Telugu actresses vying for a spot in Mollywood

With reigning Telugu actress Anushka Shetty set for her Malayalam debut with a horror flick ‘Kathanar’, it looks like Telugu divas are game for expanding their horizons. Earlier, Tammanah moved to Mollywood with ‘Bandra’, followed by Krithi Shetty of ‘Uppena’ fame to share screen space with Tovino Thomas in ‘Ajayante Randam Moshanam’ while Anjali impressed with her performance in ‘Irratta’. “Language and regional barriers have no more relevance," says director Hemanth Madhukar, who worked with Anushka Shetty in ‘Nishabhdam’.

“Anuskha Shetty could have been impressed by the novelty in the script and making her debut in Malayalam. She has attained a larger-than-life image on par with big heroes and ventured into Mollywood since she knows that her film will be released in Telugu too,” he adds.

He claims that Anushka Shetty stuck with him during ‘Nishabdham’ for three years. “Anushka is a committed and professional actor and she was with us for three years during Covid times. She declined to take up any offer until completion of our film, kudos to her support,” he points out.

Talking about other actresses like Tammannah, Krithi Shetty and Anjali, he adds, “Every actor worth his/her salt would love to work in Malayalam films. Hence, few popular Telugu divas are moving to Mollywood to do refreshing stories and also to showcase their histrionic skills, rather than just repeating themselves. These days, language has become immaterial if the content is good enough. For instance we liked ‘Kantara’ despite being a Kannada film. Being the era of multilingual movies, actresses are expanding their horizons,” he informs.

He claims that with ‘content’ becoming the king, Malayalam cinema is breaking all barriers and making waves on OTT platforms and in theatres too. “Films like 'Premalu' and 'Majummel Boys' are loved by non-Malayalam viewers in a big way and hail new-age Malayalam cinema. We have also become accustomed to watch Malayalam cinema with subtitles on OTTs since they ride on unique stories and splendid performances and Malayalam movies are back in the spotlight," he concludes.Telugu actresses vying for a spot in Mollywood