K-town heroines moving for Malayalam films

A host of Kollywood and Tollywood heroines are making a beeline for Malayalam films. And they are making it big. Last year���������s most successful heroines in Malayalam films were Lakshmi Rai (To Hariharnagar, Chattambinadu), Kaniha (Bhagyadevatha) and Padmapriya (Pazhassi Raja). Local girls like Kavya Madhavan and Navya Nair lost out to these ���������outsiders���������.
And now, the New Year has started with Nayanthara and Bhavana, two Malayalee girls who did well in other language films, making a strong comeback as their respective films, Bodyguard and Happy Husbands turned out to be hits. The big surprise however came in the form of oomph girl Namitha���������s first Malayalam film Black Stallion that galloped its way to the box-office. However, its Tamil dubbed version Nil Gavani Ennai Kadhali has turned out to be a cold turkey.
The floodgates seem to have opened. Shriya Saran is shooting with Mammootty and Pritviraj for Pokkiri Raja in Kochi while Sneha has just completed a schedule with Mammootty for Pramani in the backwaters of Alapuzha. On the other hand, Sameera Reddy is flying to Thiruvananthapuram later in the week to play Mohanlal���������s wife in Oru Naal Varum and Mamta Mohandas, after giving up her Bollywood dreams, is now shooting with Jayaram for veteran director Sathyan Anthikad���������s new untitled family drama. Pritviraj has completed his Thanthoni with the happening Telugu actress Sheela of NTR���������s Adurs fame. Making a comeback to Malayalam films is Charmy whose Aagathan with Dileep is due for release on Valentine���������s weekend. Last week, Lakshmi Rai surprised everyone when she replaced a Malayalam actress at the last minute to play Mohanlal���������s lover in Christian Brothers.
The lure to do Malayalam films has to do with the fact that Mammootty, Mohanlal and now Pritviraj (after playing Aishwarya Rai Bachchan���������s husband in the Tamil version of Mani Ratnam���������s Raavan) are considered to be actors of substance. Bollywood considers Mammootty and Mohanlal as two of the finest actors in the country, with Amitabh Bachchan himself saying that Mohanlal is his all time favourite! Says Padmapriya, ���������It is an honour to be in a film with Mammooka (Mammootty) or Lal ettan (Mohanlal). It is a learning experience and is professionally satisfying.���������
Explains Sneha, ���������In Malayalam films, you don���������t get the typical running-around-trees kind of roles. In my new film Pramani, I play a dynamic Panchayat secretary Janaki who takes on a corrupt Panchayat president played by Mammootty sir. The role has given me ample scope to perform.��������� While in other languages a film takes almost a year to be completed, in Malyalam films the heroine has to give a call sheet of only 20 to 30 days and the film gets released in less than 100 days from the start!
Says a top actress who is busy in Malayalam films, ���������The money may not be big, but it is decent and there is no need to be ultra-glamorous. Plus, M & M films never have intimate scenes. The best thing about doing such films is that it is all over in a month���������s time and one can move on to other projects.��������� It is no wonder then that an increasing number of heroines from other languages are eyeing Malayalam films as the competition increases.
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