Women on the top in Tollywood!!!

Step aside guys, the ladies are here! Once known to be a testosterone-driven industry, Tollywood has suddenly opened up to the idea of women taking centre stage. Previously present only to add an element of glamour, these leading ladies are now calling the shots. With six heroine-oriented films slated for release in the first half of 2010, the year promises to be all about girl power.

Be it Bhumika-starrer Amaravati, Charmee’s Mangala or Sindu Menon’s Subhadra, the films’ titles are also named after female characters now. And it’s not just breezy chick flicks we are talking about. Genelia’s newly released Katha, Kalyani’s next Chapter 6, and Killer, which has Sindura Gadde in the lead, proves that women are now part of the male world of thrillers, action flicks and whodunits too.

Bhumika Chawla, one of the first actors to carve a niche for herself as a character actor, agrees that women are certainly on top this season. “There is a gradual change in the industry. Heroines are getting good screen space and challenging roles to explore,” she says, adding, “It might take time for the audience to get used to this trend as they have been accustomed to seeing only heroes in lead roles.”

However, senior actors and stars are still not open to playing second fiddle to these dynamic chicks. It is only smaller actors and debutants who are chosen to act opposite them. But the girls are gung ho. “It feels great to be treated on par with the heroes, and it doesn’t really matter who we are paired with. Heroes here have a huge fan base, and they might not accept stories that revolve around the heroine. The films have huge sums of money at stake, so the stars too are not willing to take a risk by acting. But as long as we get meaty roles, there’s are no complaints,” admits Sindhu Menon, who is currently shooting for Subhadra.

Filmmakers claim that the trend also has a lot to do with how busy the heroes in the industry are. Ravi babu, the director of Amravati, adds, “The shift is towards story-centric filmmaking. The success of Anasuya and Arundhati has busted the myth that only heroes can fetch a box office hit. Moreover, most of the big stars are not available easily to filmmakers. So directors are testing other genres of films, including women-centric cinema.”

Girl power:

Panchakshari — Anushka Shetty.

Subhadra — Sindhu Menon.

Chapter 6 — Kalyani.

Killer-Sindhura Gadde.

Mangala — Charmee.

Meera Jasmine’s untitled film.