Sandalwood: A stepping stone to success?

Aspiring actresses have often chosen the common and easy route of taking part in beauty pageants until they land a grand opportunity in the film industry. These days, though, young wannabe actresses are taking a different route to land their dhamakedaar debuts — via Sandalwood. Though born and brought up in the north, these ladies are actively seeking Kannada films to make their filmi launches and branch out subsequently.Here’s a look at some north Indian actresses who have turned to Sandalwood to make their debuts and later moved on to other industries.
ASMITA SOOD
Born and raised in Himachal Pradesh, Asmita moved to Mumbai in search of work after she made it to the Miss India final. The actress, who is still young in the industry, was recently seen in the Kannada film Victory. Asmita has also acted in Telugu films.
PARUL YADAV
The actress, who belongs to a Gujarati family, lives in Mumbai. Though she began her career as a model and has acted in television serials, she got her big break with the Kannada film Govindaya Namaha. The film was the first step to signing several other Kannada films.
NIKESHA PATEL
Nikesha, though Gujarati, was born and raised in the UK. She took part in a beauty pageant and later made her debut in Sandalwood with Narasimha, followed by Varadanayaka. These films opened up doors for her in other
film industries as well.
NIKITA THUKRAL
The actress, Punjabi by birth, was brought up in Mumbai. While it seems natural for a Mumbaikar to take to Bollywood, Nikita chose to make her debut in the south film industry. The actress has also acted in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films.
AKANKSHA PURI
Akanksha, born and raised in Indore, might have moved to Mumbai for work, but she will be seen in herKannada debut opposite Komal in Lodde soon. The actress, who picked Sandalwood at the start of her career, has acted in a couple of Tamil and Malayalam films.
Actresses who have started their career with Sandalwood films in the past
1. Juhi Chawla
2. Shilpa Shetty
3. Sana Khan
4. Deepika Padukone
5. Vishakha Singh