Southern invasion in Bollywood

Kollywood’s reigning
divas have taken over screen space in Mumbai and have even bagged some of the
most talked about films this year.



Genelia D’Souza, Shriya
Saran, Priyamani, Sada, Asin, Shruti Hasan to Trisha are no longer just
headturners seen in the odd commercial on television. From selling cola and
toothpaste to being serenaded by the likes of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay
Kumar is no mean feat.



But then B-town has always had a successful
date with southern beauties — Hema Malini, Vyjayantimala, Rekha and
Sridevi all have not only done Hindi films, but all of them have even ruled the
box-office for years. The new millennium southern stars, Gautami, Rambha, Ramya
and Reema Sen haven’t been quite able to follow up the glorious act of
their predeccesors. But all that’s set to change with the new bubblegum
brigade who speak fluent Hindi and have almost severed their Kollywood roots for
a life and career in Mumbai.



Shriya Saran (her four year old debut,
Shukriya was a failure at BO and led her to Chennai) has done Awarapan, Mission
Istaanbul and claims to have been deluged with scripts in Bollywood. In fact,
Shriya even has a Hollywood film directed by Deepa Mehta in her interesting CV.
She says while both the film industries are the “same” she
doesn’t quite feel different working in mainstream Hindi films. “I
consider the entire film industry as one whole. It’s about working in your
own country,” says Shriya.



But there are slight differences
though. “Down south people are more professional and adjusting. Actors
also tend to learn technicalities of film-making but apart from that it is only
about working in different languages. Flavour, script and concept does change
but it is only because of the languages and local mass,” she says.
Shriya’s playing the lead in

Ek - The
Power of One

with Bobby Deol and Nana Patekar directed by Sangeet Sivam,
Hollywood film

The Other End Of The
Line

by Ashok Amritraj and Deepa Mehta’s What’s
Cooking.



Bubbly Genelia D’souza who’s tasted stardom in
Hyderabad enjoys every bit of her new stardom in Mumbai too. But she gushes
about both, “The working style of both industries is similar. The only
difference is the language.” She is currently shooting for Aneez
Bazmi’s It’s my life and Abbas-Mustan’s


Life Partner

.



Trade analyst
Taran Adarsh feels, “Southern actresses try their luck in Bollywood as it
is a bigger platform. In Bollywood, whoever fits the role, gets the film. But I
must say that Southern actors are more professional and technically
sound.



Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels, “Actors keep shifting base
as per convenience. If I want a fresh face for a film, I wouldn’t mind
casting a southern star. I’d have two advantages – the southern
superstar would be a new face in Mumbai, two she’d be experienced and
talented.”



Those could really be reasons enough for Bollywood
filmmakers signing up these southern stars.