Malayali women dominating Telugu film industry
The Telugu film industry is known to bring in actresses from other parts of the country to act in their films. But in recent years, rising and promising actresses from God’s own country Kerala seem to be dominating Tollywood.
Actresses like Keerthy Suresh and Malavika Nair have already made a highly impressive start to their Tollywood career with films like ‘Neenu.. Sailaja…’ and ‘Yevade Subramanyam’ respectively. Anupama Parameshwaran is a step even ahead. She has three projects of high repute lined up this year. Among them is Ravi Teja’s next film, Nitiin’s ‘A.. Aa’ and ‘Manju’, which is a remake of ‘Premam’. They are not the only ones as other Malayali actresses like Niveda Thomas, Pearle Maaney and Namitha Pramod are also ready to kick off their career in Tollywood this year. Isha Talwar who, in spite of not being a Malayali technically, is a known name in the Mollywood film industry of Kerala is also all set for her second Telugu film this year.
The reason behind
The obvious question that arises is: Why are these actresses from Kerala doing so well in Tollywood? The answer is simple. The directors are of the opinion that not only do these actresses have excellent acting talents but are also similar to Telugu women in appearance. Hence it is easier for them to appeal to the mass audience in Andhra Pradesh than it for actresses from North India or other parts of the country and the fans can also relate to them more.
Director’s Cut
Director Veerabhadram has recently taken on Namitha Pramod on his team for the upcoming film ‘Chuttalabbayi’. He stated that even after auditioning hundreds of actresses, he wasn’t satisfied until he saw Namitha who not only was good looking but exceptionally talented as well. However, the trend of actresses from Kerala appearing on Telugu silver screen is not new. There have been stars like Nayantara who not only does content based, critically acclaimed films but also mainstream commercial films which are high in glamour quotient. Nithya Menen has also left quite a mark. Other actresses like Asin, Priyamani, Amala Paul, Mamta Mohan Das, Poorna and Catherine Tressa have been delivering quality performances in the Telugu film industry. As far as looks are concerned too, these girls have scored pretty high. Most Telugu directors like Nandini Reddy, who is working with Malavika in the upcoming film ‘Kalyana Vaibhogame’ were particularly impressed with her eyes and face when she saw her at the music launch of ‘Yevade Subramanyam’. Director Kishore Tirumala who is working with Keerthy Suresh in ‘Nenu.. Sailaja…’ also said that the face that these Malayali actresses have very expressive eyes gives them the advantage over actresses of other states and also mentioned that their striking similarities with facial appearances of Telugu girls help a lot as well.
The Malayali actresses also feel that the Telugu film industry not only offers new, exciting opportunities but and gives freedom to its actors and actresses while choosing roles.