With happening actress Sreeleela being given a raw deal in the much-hyped action film Skanda, as she is confined to a few songs and scenes, it looks like male dominant themes continue to rule Tollywood. Even big names like Tammanaah (Bholaa Shankar), Shruti Haasan (Veera Simha Reddy,) Ritu Varma (Mark Antony), Anu Emmanuel (Ravanasura) and Sakshi Vaidya (Agent) had to be content with doing dance moves with heroes and coaxing a few laughs from the audience, while the hero took centre stage and usurped most of the screen space.
“This is a sad situation for actresses since they are capable of delivering good performances rather than just looking pretty,” says Teja, adding that he gave equal importance as the hero to Kajal Aggarwal in his hit film Nene Raju Nene Mantri.
“Even big stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajnikanth didn’t mind giving more space to female characters in their movies. For instance, in Robo, Aishwarya Rai had a key role opposite Rajnikanth. Similarly, the massive success of Baahaubali can be attributed to both Prabhas and Anushka Shetty, not to mention Ramya Krishna. A film like Atharantiki Daaredi, on a family subject, had an important role for Nadiya since women play a key role in real-life. Directors have to strike a balance between the hero and heroine rather than being biased towards the hero,” he adds.
However, producer Vishnu Induri denies that producers and directors are biased. “It all depends on the script; bias is just a myth,” he insists. “The industry prioritizes heroes, given their crowd-pulling power and financial stakes. Some films feature prominent heroine roles, challenging claims of male chauvinism,” he feels.
Actress Priyamani says, “The film industry has always been hero-driven, but heroines are also gaining their space. A heroine is not only for romantic scenes; we are also doing action and other stuff with ease.” She adds, “Actresses have proved that they are capable of more than just dancing and looking pretty, so let us shed this stereotyping business.”
