In Tollywood no one is indispensable...

In an industry that predominantly banks on its star heroes for the opening day numbers, the leading ladies most often are relegated to the background. Posters, promotional campaigns and release strategies have always been woven around the lead actor (read hero) of the film. And the bigger the star, the greater is the hoopla surrounding the release.To add to it, one more worrisome trend is gaining momentum in T-Town ��� heroines are being replaced all too frequently. In the last three months, at least six actresses were replaced at the nth hour for various reasons.
With Tollywood actresses being reduced to mere glam props and with competition hotting up even for bit roles opposite big stars, many actresses, even the established ones, are forced to wake up to the fact that they are easily replaceable. While this is true in most cases, there are exceptions to the rule where ���popular��� actresses had to let go of plum projects for reasons best known to them, although the usual reason that���s cited is lack of ���bulk dates���.
In the recent past, Tollywood has witnessed several of these replacement drills, with filmmakers citing creative reasons, contrasting perceptions, health-related issues, date problems, etc., to substantiate their decisions to dump a leading lady.
Actress Samantha had to make way for Shruti Hassan in the Ram Charan-starrer Yevadu. Speaking about this eleventh hour development, director Vamsi Paidipally says, ���Yes, we initially roped in Samantha for this project, but had to replace her with Shruti Haasan.��� However, Vamsi refuses to divulge details and remains tight-lipped on this matter. While we wonder what prompted the makers for this change, Samantha put things down to a ���creative decision���.
Although filmmaker Sukumar had begun the shooting of his film with Mahesh Babu long back, he was filming scenes predominantly on the available cast ��� Mahesh Babu and others. It was only in the recently wrapped up Goa schedule, he started canning scenes on the leading lady. And yes, it���s not reigning diva Kajal Aggarwal, but debutante Kriti Sanon.
When the film was first announced, there was a lot of buzz that either Kajal or Tamannaah were likely to be paired opposite Mahesh Babu in the film. However, when Tamannaah turned down the offer, everyone thought that Kajal���s name was a mere formality. But as time progressed, eventually, Kajal opted out of the film, citing the oft-repeated reason ��� ���unable to accommodate bulk dates���. The makers finally roped in Kriti Sanon.
It seems to be a norm in Tollywood to first rope in a star hero, after that it is all a matter of signing a ���compatible��� leading lady. The second female lead in the Allu Arjun-starrer Iddarammayilatho has been a source of constant speculation. At the start of the film, Taapsee���s name has been on everybody���s lips and rather surprisingly, the film���s director Puri Jagannadh announced Richa���s name during the film���s launch only to replace her with Catherine in just three weeks!
Lakshmi Rai may have been gung-ho about her item number with Nagarjuna in his upcoming socio-fantasy film. But it was Charmee who finally bagged the chance to get jiggy with the actor once again. After grooving with the star in Mass and Ragada, Charmee did it again with the item number, Sakku Bai. Given that it was the actress��� good friend Devi Sri Prasad, who scored the number, tongues did wag.
Ever since the Telugu film (remake of Vettai) starring Naga Chaitanya and Sunil was announced, films buffs have been waiting with bated breath to find who would be paired opposite Chaitu. Though Hansika was the first choice, the actress had to back out from the Telugu remake, citing dates problems. Apparently, Hansika failed to allocate bulk dates to the makers as she���s working on as many as six films. The makers opting for Tamannaah was obvious, since her pairing with Chaitu worked well in 100% Love.
Ongole Githa, starring Ram, has been in the making since some time and had to deal with the unfortunate demise of the leading lady, Shubha Phutela. The makers who were looking for a replacement roped in Nikhita Rhea, an African-based Gujarati model. Director Bhaskar shot a few scenes on Nikhita, but due to reasons best known to him, decided to replace her with Kriti Kharbanda. The film���s producer BVSN Prasad says, ���We had to replace Shubha Phutela due to health reasons. We shot in the mirchi market yard in Guntur for about 45 days and after that she had health issues. Later we roped in Nikitha Rhea and dropped her due to production issues. Finally, Kriti Kharbanda is on board now.���