Actresses get a raw deal in hero-centric movies
With the much-hyped action film ‘Guntur Kaaram’ also relegating happening actress Sreeleela to just a few songs and romantic scenes, it looks like male-dominant themes continue to rule the roost in Tollywood. Even a talented actress like Shraddha Srinath was restricted to a few light-hearted moments and for shedding tears in her latest release ‘Saindhav’. Less said the better about the poorly-etched role of Kajal Agarwal in ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’. Despite playing a psychologist, she is forced to chase middle-aged hero Balakrishna for her love. Earlier, big names like Tammanaah (Bholaa Shankar), Shruti Haasan (Veera Simha Reddy,) Ritu Varma (Mark Antony), and Anu Emmanuel (Ravanasura), weren’t spared and had to be content doing dance moves with heroes and evoke a few laughs while hero takes center-stage and usurps 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 director Teja, who claims to have equal importance to Kajal Aggarwal in his hit film ‘Nene Raju Nene Mantri’, which tasted success. “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’ could be attributed to the roles played by both Prabhas and Anushka Shetty, not to mention Ramya Krishna. Even a film like ‘Atharantiki Daaredi’, had an important role for Nadiya since women play a key role in real life too. Hence, directors have to strike a balance between hero and heroine rather than holding bias towards the hero,” he adds
However, producer Vishnu Induri rules out any bias among producers and directors. “It all depends on a particular script and bias is just a myth,” he says and adds, “Industry is hero-driven, and directors tend to give more screen space to superstars. Everyone knows that stars are crowdpullers and need to cater to their fans and there's a lot of money riding on such movies. Of course, there are films where heroines had prominent roles, so male chauvinism ruling the industry is an unfair argument,” he informs
Summing up the trend, actress Priyamani says, “The film industry has always been hero-driven, but heroines are also gaining their space. We listen to the scripts and only then step into the project. We know the output and our screen time and relevance too.” She adds that times are changing and heroines play key roles these days. “Actresses work with big stars to reach out to a wider audience; Also actresses have proved that they are capable of more than just dancing and looking pretty, albeit, it is part of an actor’s job."
“This is a sad situation for actresses since they are capable of delivering good performances rather than just looking pretty,” says director Teja, who claims to have equal importance to Kajal Aggarwal in his hit film ‘Nene Raju Nene Mantri’, which tasted success. “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’ could be attributed to the roles played by both Prabhas and Anushka Shetty, not to mention Ramya Krishna. Even a film like ‘Atharantiki Daaredi’, had an important role for Nadiya since women play a key role in real life too. Hence, directors have to strike a balance between hero and heroine rather than holding bias towards the hero,” he adds
However, producer Vishnu Induri rules out any bias among producers and directors. “It all depends on a particular script and bias is just a myth,” he says and adds, “Industry is hero-driven, and directors tend to give more screen space to superstars. Everyone knows that stars are crowdpullers and need to cater to their fans and there's a lot of money riding on such movies. Of course, there are films where heroines had prominent roles, so male chauvinism ruling the industry is an unfair argument,” he informs
Summing up the trend, actress Priyamani says, “The film industry has always been hero-driven, but heroines are also gaining their space. We listen to the scripts and only then step into the project. We know the output and our screen time and relevance too.” She adds that times are changing and heroines play key roles these days. “Actresses work with big stars to reach out to a wider audience; Also actresses have proved that they are capable of more than just dancing and looking pretty, albeit, it is part of an actor’s job."
The new-age filmmakers are changing too. "A heroine is not there for romantic scenes and we are also doing action and other stuff with ease. Tinsel town has changed, so let us shed this stereotyping business," concludes Priyamani.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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