K’wood’s women are finally on top

Until a few years ago, making a film with a woman in the lead role was a risky proposition in Kollywood. But not anymore. Currently, there are over a dozen films that are led by women being made here. So, what has changed?
G Dhananjayan, who is now remaking the Hindi hit Tumhari Sulu in Tamil, with Jyotika, credits two films that released in 2015 for starting this trend — Jyotika’s 36 Vayadhinile and Nayanthara’s Maya.“In Tamil cinema, we have had films with the woman as the protagonist in the 70s and 80s, from Uthiri Pookkal to the films of K Balachander. Actresses like Lakshmi were known for starring in such films. However, the audiences of that time saw such films not as women-centric cinema but as films with good content and supported them. Somehow, in the next couple of decades, they did not show such enthusiasm towards films that had a woman as the lead. This is why even as recently as 2014, when they remade Kahaani (as Anaamika) with Nayanthara, it did not work. But the trend changed because Jyotika and Nayanthara brought back the excitement around heroine-led films with 36 Vayadhinile and Maya,” he says.
“The number of films led by women have at least tripled now compared to what was happening when we were making 36 Vayadhinile. At that time, I think it was the only woman-centric film that was being made. Now, almost every heroine is doing it and I’m very happy to hear this,” Jyotika had remarked to us in an interview before the release of Magalir Mattum.
Today, a female-led film like Aruvi, with a newcomer (Aditi Balan) in the lead, can get the audience excited. Arun Prabhu Purushothaman, director of the acclaimed film, however feels that audiences don’t go to a film based on whether the protagonist is male or female. “They are very clear that way. If a film is engaging, they accept it,” he says and adds that his film had a female protagonist because women are the ones most affected by the issue it talks about — HIV AIDS.
Today, the first look of Nayanthara’s Kolamavu Kokila and the announcement of Jyotika’s film with Radha Mohan become trending topics on social media. And it doesn’t stop with these two actresses alone. Even if her Nayaki did not do well, Trisha is now starring in a handful of female-led films, Keerthy Suresh is the main lead in Savithri, and Samantha and Kajal Aggarwal are being roped in for remakes of successful films that have women as the central character. Even actresses who aren’t in their league, like Varalaxmi and Sai Pallavi, are getting the opportunity to play the main lead.
But Dhananjayan admits that the business of these films are not as huge as those starring top heroes. “Distributors do see these as films with limited market, but with multiplexes being opened in places like Tirupur, the audiences for such cinema have increased and they are willing to see such films in theatres provided the content is good,”
he says.
The average business of these films seems to be anywhere between `6-10 crore, so if producers can budget these films properly, they can taste success, he adds.
As Jyotika remarked, “Whether good or bad, successful or not, people are at least taking the initiative to show women as intelligent people on screen. In most of the big-hero films, the girls just have to be around the hero, singing songs. At least that’s OK, but many a time, they are not even shown as intelligent individuals, which is why it’s nice to see films being made with women in the lead.”
UPCOMING WOMEN-CENTRIC FILMS