New sensation Rashmika Mandanna, who shared screen space with big stars like ‘Mahesh Babu and Allu Arjun, has now resolved to a solo-heroine thriller ‘Rainbow’ to give a fillip to lady-oriented movies in Tollywood. Invariably she joins the elite list of Anushka (Bhagmathee), Samantha (Yashoda), Tapsee (Anando Brahma), and Keethy Suresh (Mahanati and a new thriller), who carried the film on their shoulders and spun box office magic. Eventually, turning out to be a new bunch of crowd-pullers on par with Tollywood heroes. ”No doubt, few actresses have become crowd pullers these days but the heroes number is much higher in comparison,” says director Hemanth Madhukar.
Whereas, Rashmika rules out any plans for doing her maiden female-centric movie ‘Ranbow.’ “I do films for my fans and want them to patronize my movies which reflects in box office collections. I don’t differentiate between hero and heroine-centric films because all that matters is novel content. However, I would continue doing all kinds of movies like in the past, so no other big plans,” said Rashmika at the launch of ‘Rainbow’. Another pretty actress Payal Rajput, of ‘RX 100 fame, has also jumped into the woman-oriented bandwagon with her upcoming film ‘Mangalavaram’. ‘I’m playing a very important role and it is a quite challenging one. There are other characters that also carry the film forward but I am enjoying many moments in the film, where the spotlight is on me. Definitely, such roles give us an opportunity to showcase our versatility which is otherwise restricted in other movies,” she informs.
Nonetheless, producer-distributor Abhishek Nama welcomes the trend of new-age actresses donning author-backed roles “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,” he reasons. .
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.
